Kurgan
by Maroussia2
Summary: The evil immortal is back.
1. Chapter 1

chapter 1

Scotland 1486

The wafts of fog slowly cleared over the fields of A'Mhanachainn as the sun with its first sparse rays tried to penetrate the Highland Nebula. With increasing brightness only the whole horror of the battle showed up, which had raved here still yesterday.

The noise of battle had long since stopped, the last cry of the dying faded away, now the blood of the fallen seeped into the ground. Side by side they lay, the dead of the Fraser clan and the dead of Triath nan Eilean, the Lord of the Isles, John MacDonald, the Earl of Ross, whose supremacy had been destroyed in a bloody slaughter.

Both Lairds had not taken part in the battle, but had sent their closest vassals, whereby the one who was sent by Hugh Fraser, Lord Lovat, could hardly be called a vassal, since he was a Lord with his own lands, his own title and his own men, who had fought their way through the ranks of the enemies with brutal force.

He stood on a hill above the battlefield and looked down on his work. A giant, 1.90 metres tall with long black hair, which now moved gently in the wind under the helmet made from the skull of a monster with pointed teeth. Regardless, with a rigid gaze into the piercing blue eyes, Kurgan stood there and watched as the women of the Fraser clan searched among the fallen for their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons.

The air smelled heavily of coagulated blood, sweat and the contents of the slashed bellies. The first corpse carts arrived from afar. The priest of the place, brother Lachlan, ran carefully among the dead over the field and blessed the fallen. Much less Christian were the villagers of A'Mhanachainn, who stole the belongings of every dead MacDonalds. Some cut off rings with sharp knives together with their fingers. And those who still had a spark of life in them were quickly carried to their deaths with a dagger.

"Sir, the Laird is waiting for you at Beaufort Castle to give you your reward." Duncan Fraser, a cousin of the Lairds, stood behind Kurgan and waited tense for his reaction. Without paying attention to him, Kurgan turned around and walked silently past him to his warhorse. The huge black animal stood motionless like a statue and waited for its master. The same animal had kicked the chest of 10 men yesterday as if they had been made of sugar.

Without any effort Kurgan swung onto his horse and rode towards the castle, followed by Duncan Fraser at a suitable distance, as the Highlanders had enormous respect for this invincible beast, who had beheaded two men at once with a single stroke of the sword. Duncan had watched Kurgan hit some sword strokes, but he was apparently invulnerable, for nothing had been able to knock him down, not even the claidheamh mòr, the Scottish two-handed sword.

Before Beaufort Castle or Caisteal Duuaidh there was already a lot of activity. The last wounded were just brought into the castle, partly supported by their clan brothers, partly carried to have their wounds treated. Away from it stood a group of men who were not Highlanders. A blond giant named Einar, a Viking, stepped up to Kurgan as he just got off his horse and took it by the reins and directed it towards the stables, for none of the stable boys dared to touch the horse. The last one paid for it with his life.

Kurgan marched past his men, who followed him into the hall. The second Viking, Aegir, was Einar's younger brother, a head smaller than Kurgan, but very muscular and well seen by the clan ladies for his long blond hair, blue eyes and truncated beard. Einar, on the other hand, had a scar from his left eye over his nose to his right cheek, which disfigured him. The left ear was missing and two fingers on the left hand. Nevertheless, he was a merciless fighter and killed no less brutally than his master, to whom he was unconditionally devoted.

Two other men followed them, they were dark-haired and came from Franconia, Arnulf and Wido, could not compete with the previous ones in size and strength, but in dexterity and agility.

The last three men were from Saxony, Alfred, Bernulf and Brandolf, medium sized, bearded and silent. All men were dressed completely in black, while the Highlanders wore their clan colours. As Kurgan slowly climbed the stairs to Laird's Hall, he took off his helmet and threw his weight at Aegir.

In the hall numerous clan members were gathered, they whispered with each other, women and men, old and young, also some children among them. As soon as Kurgan appeared in the door, the conversations fell silent, an icy silence set in. Kurgan and his men ignored the frightened stare of the assembled Frasers. Her gaze was directed at the end of the hall with the pedestal on which the chair of the clan chief and his family stood.

Hugh Fraser had light brown hair, a weather-tanned face, alert blue eyes and a shaggy beard. His wife, Lady Margaret, and his son Thomas stood next to his chair awaiting the arrival of the mercenaries.

A few meters before the platform they stopped. Kurgan despised the Laird. A man who didn't fight himself was worth less to him than the dirt under his boots. The Scotsman sank under the icy gaze of Kurgan. But he knew that without him he could never have won this battle, for the MacDonalds had been far superior in numbers. So he swallowed his pride, stood up and tried, with a reasonably firm voice, to give a speech.

"We have won a glorious victory today ! The MacDonald's been beaten, we're protected from his raids. He's lost so many men, he can't attack us anymore. You fought bravely and many of our clan brothers lost their lives. We will pray for them and remember them." Chief Fraser looked at Kurgan. "You, Count von Krohn, deserve special thanks, as do your men."

He waved at Duncan, who had already waited with a big leather bag in the background. "Take this as a token of our gratitude." Duncan stepped forward and handed Einar the bag, in which it clanked quietly. That was her mercenary's fee.

"I suppose you'll stay for dinner?" Chief Fraser looked at Kurgan uncertainly. "No, we travel. Today. Make sure we have enough food." Kurgan's dark commanding voice resounded through the large room. His work here was done. He had no interest in exchanging liabilities with Fraser.

"Fraser." Kurgan looked at Lord Lovat one last time before he turned around and took a quick step out of the hall, followed by his men and several regretful looks of the ladies who would have enjoyed the company of the handsome Aegir.

Within the next two hours a cart with provisions was ready and the war horses were ready, the men could set off. The car should accompany them to the coast to Kurgan's waiting ship and then turn back again.

The journey went without a hitch, as nobody would have dared to attack this group, which was armed to the teeth. The ship was loaded with food and four barrels of whiskey. As soon as Kurgan had boarded the ship, he disappeared into his cabin and was not seen until his arrival in his home port.


	2. Chapter 2

Today

Gwendolyn - Gwynna - Williams just stuffed her coat in the locker and threw her stethoscope after when her morning shift colleague came into the dressing room. "Gwynn, you left your watch on the counter again. Melissa Paulson held her golden watch, a gift from her grandparents, in front of her nose. "Damn it!" Gwynn hit his forehead with his flat hand. "My gran will kill me if I lose this one."

Melissa unlocked her locker and pulled a foul smelling packed lunch from the locker. "Yuck, I forgot about that last time." "What are you going to do with your two weeks vacation? California? Mexico? " Gwynna stuffed the last T-shirt in her backpack. After her 48 hour shift in the Emergency Room she could hardly wait to finally leave the hospital. "No, I promised my grandparents I'd keep her house until her housekeeper got back from her vacation. I'm going to the Hamptons tonight."

"Will you take the Jitney?"

"No, I'm driving my car. That's why I gotta go before rush hour starts."

Gwynna took a quick look in the mirror. For her work she had tied her long blond hair, which reached almost to the waist, into a braid, which she now loosened and shook out the hair. She saw the dark circles under her blue eyes and the pale complexion. She came out way too seldom to get color. She was 1.70 medium tall and had a female figure - hourglass figure, as her grandmother said - with full breasts, narrow waist and female hips. 'I'll never be a model,' Gwynna thought and sighed. She noticed a stain on her red T-shirt and rummaged in the locker for a replacement, which she finally put on.

Gwynna threw a kissing hand at her colleague, "Have fun in the nuthouse!" and ran towards the exit, turning her wristwatch on. Pass the doorman, get out. It was already hot outside, the July sun was burning on the asphalt, but Gwynna paid no attention and ran towards the subway, her backpack thrown over a shoulder.

Her workplace, Lenox Hill Hospital, had become her second home, as many hours as she spent there. Her rotation to the emergency room had lasted six months. Another six, and she would have completed the mandatory period for her training as a traumatologist.

Arriving in the subway, Gwynna was able to board line 6 immediately and sat down on one of the free seats. Fortunately, the trip lasted only 20 minutes. When she finally arrived in her small one-room apartment, she threw her backpack to the ground, took the sweaty shirts from it and ran into the small bathroom where the basket for the dirty laundry was. Then she hurried to her bed and knelt in front of it to pull out the suitcase underneath. Living in New York had many advantages, but as a young doctor in continuing education there were few affordable apartments. So chronic lack of space was a problem, so that every gap had to be filled as well as possible.

Gwynna went to her built-in closet and pulled out clothes, trousers, shirts and shoes. Then followed lingerie from the small chest of drawers next to the bed and last but not least her utensils from the bathroom. She grabbed another Coke bottle from the fridge, locked the suitcase and finally pulled it through her apartment door into the hallway to the elevator. Two blocks away was the garage where she had rented a place for her car. The costs were borne by her grandparents, otherwise Gwynna would have had to do without a car. She lifted the suitcase into the trunk of her little Ford, opened the driver's door, got in and turned the key in the ignition lock. With a quiet chug the car started, Gwynna carefully backed up and drove up the three ramps to the exit. At the barrier she held her chip card against the sensor and was finally able to drive onto the road. Meanwhile it was 10 o'clock and the streets were not yet too crowded.

Gwynna took the CD from the passenger seat where she last dropped it and put it in the CD slot. To the sound of "One Year of Love" she drove out of New York towards Hamptons. Her grandparents' house was located in Southampton and was not one of the luxurious billionaire villas found in the Hamptons. It was a cozy detached house with a large garden, ground floor, attic and a granny flat where the housekeeper of the family, Elizabeth, lived. She was watering her grandmother's rose bushes when Gwynna turned into the driveway. Gwynna parked her little blue Ford in front of the garage, got out and was immediately greeted by the delighted Elizabeth and her even more delighted Bassett Sparks, who came waddling on his short legs and jumped up at her.

"Sparky, my cuddly bear!" Gwynna shouted and kneeled down on the stones to crawl the dog behind his ears.

"Oh, Miss Gwendolyn, it's so nice to see you again. You hardly come to us old people anymore." Elizabeth lovingly embraced her and immediately plucked Gwynna's sleeves as she had done since childhood. "Elizabeth, I'd like to come back more often, but you know... Job's wasting my time. And now I'm here and you're leaving!" Gwynna smiled at the old lady.

"Have you heard from my grandparents? How do they like Italy?"

"They just called yesterday. They're fine, and they're out all day. They want to leave Rome next week and head south. I'm here to greet you and wish you a pleasant time with us, Miss Gwendolyn."

Elizabeth had never called her by her nickname, since she could think she was "Miss Gwendolyn". Gwynna grew up with her father's parents, Lorraine and Peter Williams, from the age of six, after her parents had died in a car accident. Her grandfather was a successful banker who had achieved some prosperity and was able to make the house in the Hamptons possible for his family. He had also financed the study of his granddaughter. Gwynna had never met her mother's parents or her uncle, her mother's older brother. The family originally came from Scotland and Cedric Moray, her uncle, was said to have returned there.

Gwynna took her suitcase and stomped into the house behind Elizabeth and Sparks. She brought the suitcase into her old nursery and unpacked the things she had brought with her. Meanwhile the smell of freshly brewed coffee flowed through the house. Her grandmother loved English chintz and Italian coffee, so Gwynna's room was decorated with large flowered chintz on windows and bedposts. On the white dressing table she draped her perfumes and make-up utensils. Finally she left her room again and joined Elizabeth in the kitchen, where Sparks worked his way through a large mountain of dog food.

"Is the dog staying here?" Gwynna asked when Elizabeth pressed a cup of coffee and milk into her hand.

"No, my brother will pick him up in an hour. You have enough to do with the garden, so I didn't want to burden you with the dog."

"But I wouldn't have minded. Sparky and I get along well together," Gwynna said, looking at the animal.

"I know that, Miss Gwendolyn. I've already brought Oliver all the dog food and if you want to see him, he's not far away."

Elizabeth placed her cup on the kitchen table. "The fridge's full, the freezer's too. I filled up tea and coffee and in the storeroom you find canned food and everything else. That should be enough for two weeks, only fruit and vegetables you'd have to get fresh."

"Before I forget... Here are some more letters. Mostly for your grandparents. I don't think anything important, so I can wait till they get back. But here, here's a letter addressed to you."

Elizabeth pulled one out of a pile of letters and presented it to Gwynna.

"What's that? Who sends letters to me here?" Gwynna looked at the letter. It was made of old-looking, dirty beige paper without a sender, but it clearly had her name on it.

"Why don't you take a look," said Elizabeth and resumed her cup. The address was written with ornate letters and apparently with ink, as there were one or two spots in the lines.

Gwynna opened the letter and took a sheet from it that looked just as beige and yellow as the envelope. Here, too, it had been written in ink. She read:

"My dear Gwendolyn,

You will not remember me because you were too small when I last saw your mother, my sister, and you. In the meantime a lot has happened that I can't tell you everything in the letter, but there were reasons why I didn't come to you anymore. I'd like to tell you that personally, if you'd like to see me at all. So much time has passed... Meanwhile you are a young woman and I court that you have your own family and are happy. Unfortunately, that was not granted to me, but I am still filled with my life. So if you want to see me, I'll be in Southampton Park after sunset on July 15th. Go to the oak tree in the left corner. I'll wait there. I'm afraid I can't come to you, that's why this unusual meeting place.

I implore you not to tell anyone about the contents of this letter. It's very important. I'll be happy to explain everything, but until then, I'll stay your uncle.

Cedric"

Gwynna lowered the leaf and stared at Elizabeth. "Strange letter." "Who's that from?" "It's from Cedric, my uncle. I haven't heard from him in many years." "And what does he write?" Gwynna flinched. Cedric had specifically written her not to tell about it. She took her mug and had a sip of coffee.

"Oh, nothing earth-shattering. What he did and a lot of gossip."

Before Elizabeth could mention anything, there was a knock at the door and her brother came in to pick up Sparks. Fortunately, that saved her a more detailed answer.

After Oliver had left with the dog, Elizabeth had already forgotten the letter that Gwynna had put into her backpack. It was now time for her to leave as well. She had ordered her cab for 4:00 and had to hurry.

Gwynna waved after the taxi and went back to the house to get the letter out again. She read through the lines again. July 15th was in two days. She bit her lower lip. Should she really go to the park? Alone? In the dark? What was that all about? Why was your uncle so secretive? And was the letter even from him? Maybe it was a madman who tried to kill her there? Gwynna sat down on the sofa in the living room and thought. There was no one to accompany her, and he had wanted to see her alone. Gwynna sighed. After all, there were still two days until she had to decide whether she really wanted to take the risk.

She used it to get up to inspect the fridge and the pantry.


	3. Chapter 3

Gwynna spent the first night in the house of her grandparents almost sleepless. She was used to the noise of New York because the city never slept. Here you could only hear the noise of the trees and some nocturnal animals running through the garden or sitting in the trees. She also kept thinking about her uncle's letter. Why didn't he just come to her? Why would she meet him in the dark in a park? Was he a criminal on the run, perhaps? Around four o'clock in the morning she finally fell asleep and dreamed of wandering shadows.

The next morning she trotted into her bathroom completely tired and threw her underwear into the laundry basket before she went into the shower and let the warm jet trickle on her head. Her grandmother had bought her favourite shampoo for her - with jasmine fragrance - and Gwynna thoughtfully foamed her hair with it. After shaving her armpit hair, she took a large towel from the washbasin and dried herself. Finally she wrapped a towel around her wet hair, because she liked to dry it without a hair dryer and went back to her room, fetched new lingerie from the dresser and rubbed herself with body lotion before putting on a pair of jeans and a shirt with short sleeves.

Gwynna marched the winding wooden staircase to the ground floor. Arriving down in the small entrance hall, she opened the front door and took the fresh milk bottles from the porch, which were delivered every day. Arriving in the kitchen, she took coffee pads out of the drawer - her grandparents also eagerly and joyfully operated the machine that Gwynna had given them for Christmas - and brewed a cappuccino. Finally she fetched toast from the fridge and toasted it. Gwynna especially liked to eat it with melted butter. After she had prepared her breakfast, she went out onto the terrace and sat down in the Hollywood swing to drink her cappuccino.

The silence was heavenly. Finally she was able to relax and unwind. Gwynna noticed how tense and nervous she had been lately. The city, the work demanded everything from her, she had practically no private life any more, even her last relationship attempt had therefore failed. She remembered David, the saxophone-playing teacher she had met through her friend Melissa. "Melissa had said at that time and dragged him along to a dinner. Well, Melissa knew her well. David was tall, broad-shouldered, had dark brown hair and light brown eyes, and was a humorous and interesting conversationalist. They had laughed a lot on this first evening, followed by others at different locations: Cinema, theatre, restaurant, park and finally David's apartment, which he shared with a friend to save rent.

Gwynna remembered the embarrassing moment when David had kissed her and she was just about to rip his shirt off when his chaotic roommate stormed into the room, completely drunk, bottle of beer in his hand, pants half open and "sorry, puking" on the way to the bathroom ridding himself of his stomach contents. The romantic evening had thus become a two-hour cleaning orgy to remove the mess, while his buddy lay snoring loudly in David's bed.

Gwynna swore that she only wanted to have sex in her apartment and promised David a next date with her. And just when she thought it would become a relationship, her colleague Stuart broke his arm and Gwynna had to take over his shifts, so her life turned into eat-sleep-work-eat-sleep-work. So she could forget about dates, sex as well and Dave threw in the towel after six weeks, not without first calling her frigid. Oh how she loved her job! She wondered if people in earlier centuries had it easier in certain things. At least they didn't know the stress of a big city, but they had essential existential problems. Life was simpler, hardly any technology, laboriously safe, no proper medical care, but nevertheless...

And so the day went by with dreaming. After the night program on television, which Gwynna had listened to only with half an ear, she went to bed and finally fell asleep deeply and firmly. As morning approached, the meeting with her uncle came closer. At noon Gwynna took a ready meal from the freezer and warmed it in the microwave. She ate without appetite. The day was slowly coming to an end and still she hadn't made a decision if she wanted to meet her uncle, if she even wanted to take the chance to go alone into the park in the dark. Of course, she could go to Elizabeth's brother's house and ask him to accompany her, but what would she tell him? 'Oliver, I'm about to meet someone in the dark in the park pretending to be my uncle. Could also be a psycho. Maybe I won't make it through the night'? I don't think so. He would probably advise her to call the police and barricade herself in the house. No, that wasn't the answer.

Slowly the sun leaned towards the earth, the garden was bathed in red light. Gwynna had pulled a sweater over her shirt and black shoes with which she could run if necessary. "Damn it!" she thought and marched to her car just as the sun was setting. The park was only 10 minutes away and was well frequented during the day. Families liked to hike through the well-kept complex. The tall trees stood on the edge. Gwynna could still remember the oak tree that Cedric had mentioned as a meeting place in his letter. It stood in the more wild part of the park and was at least two hundred years old. Gwynna had taken a flashlight and a kitchen knife as a precaution - who knew what was waiting for her there?

Finally she reached the park. The lanterns were on fire in the parking lot and she got out of her car. She didn't lock the car. Maybe she had to flee quickly and whether she could put the car key into the lock in panic was very questionable. There were no lamps burning in the park anymore, since a petition had enforced their deactivation, because one feared to disturb the nocturnal animals of the park with the brightness. So Gwynna had to rely on her flashlight and so she lit up the path she was hurrying along. She flinched every time it rushed in the bushes along the way and was glad when after a few minutes the contours of the old oak appeared.

There was no one there. Gwynna stopped. She hadn't expected that. She got closer to the tree. Nothing. She walked around the tree. Nothing. Now she got angry. Did someone take the liberty of joking with her?

"Cedric? Damn it, if you're anywhere, then show yourself! What the fuck!" Gwynna drove herself over her forehead and pushed the unruly hair back, which had already come off the clasp again. "All right, I'll go then. Spinner" she murmured, but then suddenly she heard a strange noise. A buzzing like thousands of bees sounded behind the tree and an unnaturally bluish waving light manifested itself. Gwynna gasped in horror, took a step back and fell over a stone along the way. "Ow!" she screamed up and landed with the back on the lawn. She also lost her flashlight, which fell to the ground and went out.

At that moment, a figure emerged behind the tree. It was a man in his 40s. He was lit by the strange light that was still visible. Gwynna saw a beard, shoulder-length hair and a strange garment consisting of a coat shirt, leather belt, wide trousers and high boots. At the side hung a small leather bag on the belt. The man looked like a person from times long gone. He stepped on her.

"Gwendolyn ? Is that you?" Something seemed familiar to her in his voice. He stepped closer and offered her his hand to help her up from the ground.

"Uncle Cedric?" "Yes, my child. I'm Cedric." Gwynna took the offered hand - it was rough and strong - and rose from the ground. "I-I lost my flashlight."

"Oh, it doesn't matter." Cedric turned around, went back to the tree and pulled out a lamp containing a large burning wax candle. "I brought one."

He held up the lamp to take a closer look at Gwynna.

"You look like my mother. You've never met Ailis, have you?"

Gwynna looked at him surprised. "No, I only know dad's parents. I don't even have a picture of them. Mum never really talked about her."

Gwynna saw the bluish light behind the tree slowly fading.

"So, what's this? Where the hell did you just come from? I just walked around the whole tree and there was nothing. What kind of light is that? What do you even look like? What's this meeting in the middle of the night in this park for? Why haven't you called me back?"

Cedric smiled slowly as Gwynna's questions poured into him. He raised his hand: "Gwendolyn-". "They call me Gwynna."

"Well, Gwynna, I'd like to explain everything to you. I brought a blanket. We can sit next to the tree, then I'll try to explain everything to you."

Cedric took his lamp and went to the tree where he pulled out a blanket from an opening.

"I brought it the last time. You can't take so many things at once, you know?"

Cedric spread out the blanket and placed the lamp next to it on the floor. The candle gave only little light, so that Gwynna could hardly see his features.

"Sit down, there's a lot to tell." Gwynna cautiously approached and finally sat facing Cedric, who leaned his back against the tree.

"Well? I'm listening." Cedric sighed. "When I start, please don't interrupt me. I know that what I am about to tell you is hard to believe, but still, listen to me first. I'll try to answer all your questions then. Is that all right?"

"All right. I'm listening." Gwynna put her knees up and embraced them with her arms.

"So I'm telling you the story of a man who moved out to look for something he couldn't find here."

Gwynna couldn't help himself. "In this country?"

Cedric smiled. "No... in this time. But now shsh."


	4. Chapter 4

Cedric closed his eyes and thought for a moment. It wasn't easy to start with a story and he wanted to explain Gwynna as much as possible because secretly he had the hope that she would not only understand him but perhaps follow him. For too long he had been alone, but in the end he had been abandoned by the inhabitants of his village, who could neither read nor write.

"As a child, I wanted to explore the world. Find my roots. You know our family comes from Scotland?" "Yes, I heard that."

"Well, the Moray family belongs to the Fraser clan, a famous Highlander clan."

"I didn't know that. Mom told me about Scotland, she was there with Dad once, but I didn't hear anything else about it."

"You were little when she died. She would have told you more later. Anyway, as a young man I started to study old languages and to deal with the European peoples. Then one day I was in Ireland at a flea market when an old man came up to me and asked me if I didn't want to buy a book from him. He looked terribly neglected and stank of alcohol, but the book he showed me was ancient and apparently valuable. So I gave him 50 pounds and took the book.

It dates from the 16th century and was handwritten, a biography of a certain Malcolm Fraser. Partly very difficult to read, but I was able to decipher some passages. And what was there made me speechless.

"What was it?"

"He wrote of a way to travel through time, to an earlier place. He said he tried it himself. He also gave detailed instructions."

Gwynna looked up. "Please? That's not possible. A time machine, for instance?"

"No, no time machine. A magic formula that allows you to open a time portal, used by the druids and even by Merlin himself."

Gwynna snorted. "Merlin ? King Arthur? And now the Holy Grail will surely come?"

Cedric looked at her gruffly. "Speak no nonsense, there is no King Arthur, nor a Holy Grail. But Merlin existed."

"Well, if you say so."

"The knowledge of mankind has often been lost over time, so whatever the ancestors knew can be forgotten today. Remember that."

"It's all right. So Merlin lived. What's next?"

"I tried the formula. And it worked."

Gwynna sat up straight and stared at Cedric with big eyes. There was dead silence in the park, as if all the animals would hold their breath.

"You're seriously telling me you traveled back in time?"

"Did I not tell you not to interrupt me? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. On a full moon night I painted a pentagram into a stone circle in Fermanagh, threw various herbs into the pentagram and spoke the magic formula. What you saw earlier, the blue light, is the time tunnel.

The light drew me in and into the tunnel. I fainted, the suction was so strong. When I regained consciousness, I was lying in a forest near a village. The priest found me and brought me to the village elder - mayor one would probably say today. A man named Adalgod. A Saxon. He spoke Old High German, which I did not understand, but the priest could speak some Latin and so I could find out that I had landed in 1490".

Cedric stretched out his legs and shifted his sitting posture.

"I wasn't sure why I had arrived there and at that time and the environment wasn't necessarily my taste either. People were very surprised at my clothes, but after I had told them that I was a healer, well not really, they took me in their midst. I got a small empty hut and could live a simple life there. For my "healings" I got food and sometimes fabric for new clothes. Over time, I also learned the language and thus got to know the people better. Simple people but friendly and hard-working. There was also a new master. One year before my arrival he had occupied the castle and killed the old count, since his land bordered on that of the old count. He was often not present, but finally I saw him. One day he rode through the village with his followers. The horses' hooves shook the earth and I swear I've never seen a more fearsome warrior. He wore an animal skull as a helmet and his black cape blew over the back of his horse.

They did not stop, but moved towards the castle. Later the village elder told me that the lord would never stay in the village. Only his men would occasionally come to the inn. Well, more on that later."

Cedric looked at Gwynna expectantly. "Now you may ask."

"So why there and in this very time?"

"It was not clear to me for a long time, but then I understood that it had to do with the new master. He had a close relationship with our ancestral clan, the Frasers. Apparently there must be some connection to the family to get to a certain place."

"How long did you live there?"

"Twenty years."

"What? Are you trying to fool me?" Gwynna looked at her uncle angrily and jumped up. "You're ten years older than my mother. My mother would be 52 today if she were still alive and you don't look like a man of 62!"

Cedric sighed again. "I know, kid. I don't know what to say. I haven't aged since my trip back. I can't explain it either. But it is so. Unfortunately the villagers also noticed this and their friendliness turned into hatred, so that I had to leave my hut in the village and moved into the forest. The village eldest, Adalgod, had died in the meantime, as had the priest, and the new eldest, his son Konrad, was much less well disposed towards me.

They probably would have killed me soon if a huge blond Viking hadn't stood in front of my door one day. He forced me to come to the castle because the master's horse was ill. It had an abscess on its hoof, which I was fortunate enough to treat, so that from then on the count had me occasionally come to the castle to check on the animal.

That saved me from Konrad's wrath. Because when the horse was healthy, the count was often on the road and did not attack the..."

Cedric cleared his throat in embarrassment. "...ahem, you know."

Gwynna slowly sat down again. "You mean he rapes the village girls?"

"I-I heard some things. But we shouldn't talk about that."

"And why are you here again? How did you manage to get back?"

"Basically the same way. But there was no stone circle there, so that I first had to look for a place steeped in history to venture the way. It's not possible everywhere, but amazingly, it's possible here. Maybe because you're here. You're all the family I've got since your mother died."

"But I've lived in New York for years."

"Yet you've spent most of your life here so far. And your presence is strong."

"You didn't answer my question. Why did you come back?"

"Call it longing. I might have wanted to go back."

"And why didn't you just go to my grandparents' house? Why did we have to meet here? That doesn't make any sense to me."

"I can only meet here, Gwynna, because I can't leave the portal environment. It's like a magnet pulling me back in. I tried. As soon as I move more than twenty meters away from it, this suction begins. My steps become slower, it feels like my feet are fixed to the floor with glue. I can't get away. And I'll grow old as soon as I get here."

"How many times have you come back so far? Always here or somewhere else?"

"I can only open the portal here. Today is the third time. The first time I tried to bring you a letter to your grandparents' house, but I couldn't get away. I put it in the tree, but when I was here the second time, hoping someone had found it and brought it to you, it was still there. I then deposited the blanket here, because I really can't take much with me, otherwise I can't get through the tunnel, because the objects from the past increase the suction again.

Fortunately it wasn't that late in the evening, so a teenager ran into me and I gave him a coin and asked him to deliver the letter to your grandparents. I don't have any stamps."

"As you can see, I got it." Gwynna thoughtfully supported her hand under her chin.

"I don't know what to think of this, Uncle Cedric. This all sounds way too fantastic for me."

Cedric looked at her. "I know. I'm sorry. But who should I tell if not my only relative? I brought you the book with my notes and translations. Read it if you want. Even if you don't believe me, it was nice to see you again after such a long time."

The candle began to flicker slowly. "Oh, it's time. I have to go."

Gwynna looked at him. "You're going back?"

"I have to. I've been there too long. I live there. It's simple but it's good. And I like that. I wouldn't be able to handle this anymore. And how could I explain to the local park attendants why I live next to an oak tree?" Cedric smiled wistfully and stood up.

Gwynna did the same to him. "Will I see you again?"

"Is that what you want?"

"You could tell me more about the people there. History has always been my favorite subject at school."

Cedric approached her closer and grasped her chin.

"I'd love to see you again. But not so fast. It's very exhausting for me to travel through the time tunnel. In three months to the full moon at the same time, would that be all right?"

Gwynna smiled. "I'll try to come." She turned her face away. "But I don't have my flashlight anymore. How am I supposed to find my way back in the dark?"

"Here." Cedric handed her the lantern. "Take it. The light of the candle should still be enough for the way back."

Just when he had spoken the last words, the light behind the oak intensified. Cedric turned around again and waved to her.

"See you soon, niece!" Immediately afterwards the light had swallowed him up and darkness spread.

Gwynna stared into the darkness, then lifted the lantern and lit the way back to her car.


	5. Chapter 5

The next days after her meeting with Cedric, Gwynna spent reading the notes in the book because she couldn't read the old, original manuscript. As far as she now knew, five herbs, required for each spike of the pentagram, a magic formula and the right place to full moon. Cedric had not translated many passages, but in the last pages of his handwriting it was written that it was dangerous to use the spell, because one could never know where one would go.

Gwynna saw herself running away from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, should the time tunnel lead her into the Cretaceous period.

But did she really want to think about doing the same like her uncle? She was about to complete her specialist training. And she'd given up so much for that. A small circle of friends, mostly colleagues, no partner, no children, a tiny apartment and the feeling of never getting enough rest for yourself. All this she sacrificed and she did it gladly, because it gave her life a meaning. Gwynna realized how little family she still had and how rarely she saw her grandparents. Who knows how much longer she'd have them? She decided to go to the Hamptons more often in the future, even though it was difficult.

Two days later, her grandmother called. She told her enthusiastically about Italy. Especially Pompeii and Herculaneum, which they had visited the day before.

"Are you all right, sweetheart? Do you eat enough and rest? Did Elizabeth leave you enough in the fridge?"

"It's all wonderful. She's taken good care of me, Gran. I can't eat that much," Gwynna laughed. She preferred not to tell her grandmother about her nocturnal adventure.

"Why don't you go out for a while, Gwynna? You know, the son of the Petersens is a respected lawyer, and as far as I remember, he used to keep an eye on you."

"Yeah, but I don't like him. He's not called Mr. Valium for nothing."

"Better a boring man than a womanizer. Remember, kid. He wouldn't cheat on you."

"If you're alluding to David, he didn't cheat on me." Gwynna twisted her eyes. "He just didn't understand the long hours of my work and his roommate was a disaster." After a break, she added. "It just didn't fit."

She heard her grandmother sigh at the end of the line.

"Whatever you say. I still think you should try Roger. Why don't you go out with him at least once? Maybe you're pleasantly surprised."

"Well, that would surprise me. But if you insist..."

"Wonderful. Should I call the Petersens?"

"Don't you dare! I am an adult and can organize my dates myself!"

"It's all right. Then I'm counting on you to do the same. Oh, your grandfather's waving, I gotta go. Have fun, sweetheart! Kiss!" And that's what her grandmother hung up on.

Gwynna's scolding angrily. Now she had to organize a date with Roger Petersen, otherwise Gran would be in her ears forever. But maybe she wouldn't be able to call them, but could drive by and then make a detour to the health food store to inquire about the herbs in Cedric's book. Wouldn't it be interesting to know if these herbs were for sale?

5 hours later Gwynna was back again, with three of the five herbs, at the end of her nerves and the firm will never to face Roger's mother, Angela Petersen, again. The house of the Petersens was located in Montauk and was three times the size of their grandparents' house. Roger's father was a very wealthy real estate agent who built the house in the mid-eighties and stupidly had his wife furnish it.

Because Angela had unfortunately been in the Louvre in Paris in the apartments of the last French emperor shortly before and had declared red plush and dark brown wood panelling for the summit of taste. Therefore the house had become very plush. You could choose between dark red, orange red, pink red and light red plush.

When Gwynna rang the doorbell to fulfill her grandmother's wish, Maisy the maid took her to the dark red plush salon to wait for the landlady. Gwynna had put on a long jeans skirt with a light blue Carmen top and was now sitting on a monstrosity of armchairs, also in style of the Second Empire, looking at the photos standing in silver frames on the black mantelpiece. She bounced with her black pumps on the red oriental carpet. She wore her hair open this time and so her long silky strands fell down almost to her waist. Gwynna had applied make-up only discreetly: some eye shadow and lip gloss.

As she looked at the pictures - the Petersens at their wedding, Angela with Baby Roger, Angela and Fred with Roger and Baby Helen, Roger at his high school graduation, etc. - she suddenly heard from above first rumbling, then an outcry and finally loudly stomping footsteps on the stairs. Angela Petersen appeared in the large double door to the salon and, annoyed, pushed a strand of her light brown, shoulder-length hair behind her ear.

She saw Gwynna, who had just risen from her armchair, briefly looked at her from top to bottom, and then approached her to greet her.

"Oh Gwynna! What a charming surprise! I didn't even know you were with your grandparents. I thought they were just making a tour of Italy?"

"They do, too, that's why I'm looking after their house."

"Like this? Don't they have employees for that? There used to be someone..."

"Elizabeth is also out of town. And I'm happy to do it."

"Really? I don't know. I never would have allowed my employees to travel if we left. Where'd you get that? But well, you're gonna get some money for that, aren't you? What's your nurse training? It was, wasn't it?"

Angela rushed past her and draped herself picturesquely on a kind of throne.

"I'm a doctor, Mrs. Petersen, and no, I don't get paid for it." In Gwynna, anger was boiling.

‚Arrogant bitch,' she thought.

"Doctor, nurse - it's the same thing. How terrible to have only sick people around you... They must smell. And then there's blood and everything. Luckily, my Helen got married right after school. And now I have two lovely grandchildren."

Gwynna sat down again. She wondered how she could disappear as quickly as possible, but without asking about Roger, it wouldn't work.

"How nice for her. And how is Roger?" How's his office? Or isn't he a partner yet?"

Gwynna couldn't resist the top as she knew that Roger was only employed.

Angela looked at her piquantly: "Well, it's not that fast either. After all, he's only recently been admitted to the bar."

After failing the test twice', Gwynna added in thought.

"But I'm sure Weylan, Trevor and Harris will offer him a partnership soon. I'm convinced of that." Angela was interrupted when Maisy appeared with a large silver tray, coffee pot, cups, plates and French macarons in all colours and placed it somewhat louder than necessary on the coach table. In her face one could clearly see the imprint of a hand.

When Gwynna saw the maltreated maid, she just wanted to jump up and run away.

But Angela had already filled her cup and put three colourful macarons on her plate. "The Macarons will be delivered to us by the deli on Third Street. You know, Lecoanet. They're delicious."

Angela took sweetener and stirred her coffee intensively. "Frederick would like to spend next summer in France. Three months at the Cote d'Azur. We're gonna rent a villa extra. Maybe Roger will visit us too. But he's so busy. Did I mention he has a new girlfriend? A very charming girl named Priscilla."

Gwynna looked up surprised. Angela liked the girlfriend of her holy son ? Really? We don't know. Signs and miracles still happened.

The relief was clearly written in her face, because Angela looked at her with her eyes pinched.

"I know you two have been in closer contact..."

"Not that tight now. We've been to the movies once or twice."

"Well, the young women today have only their careers in mind. No time for family and household. But I think Priscilla will make an excellent wife. She has an education and wants to settle down now. Oh, I'm looking forward to the engagement party!"

Gwynna smiled. "I'm sure it'll be splendid in this house." She swallowed the last Macaron and got up.

"All I wanted to do was give my grandparents their regard anyway, and now it's time for me. Thank you so much for the coffee."

Angela also stood up and accompanied her to the front door.

"If you can spare time, I'd be happy to invite you to the party. Then you will get to know Priscilla personally."

"Thank you, that's very kind of you. But as you have already said, as a studied woman I have only my career in mind and for nothing else time. Good bye!" And so Gwynna marched quickly out the door before Angela could answer something else.

During the trip to the herb shop Gwynna hummed relieved. At least she had solved the problem with her grandmother about dating now. Arriving at the store, she picked up the note with the herbs from her pocket and went into the store. The shopkeeper was behind the counter. If one had had to depict a herb witch in the fairy tale book, she would have been a good role model. Long white hair, light hump, pointed nose and a clearly visible wart on the chin.

"What can I do for you, miss?"

"I'm looking for these herbs. Do you have anything like this in stock?" Gwynna held the note in her face. The old woman took it and studied it carefully. Then she looked Gwynna in the face. "But these are extraordinary herbs. Rare herbs. Do you realize they're so-called witch herbs?"

"Witch herbs?"

"Yes, it has been assumed in earlier centuries that witches used these herbs in their circles for spells. Wait a minute." She turned to her wall shelf and walked down the rows of glass containers. "I should have some of that even there."

She read the names on the glasses and finally stopped in front of one, took it out and put it on the counter.

"That's Actaea or Christoph's cabbage. How much do you want?

"A pound." Gwynna had no idea how much of it to use.

She watched as the Actaea herb was filled into a plastic bag and weighed. Then the woman stuck a piece of paper on the bag and labeled it. "I have Euphorbia lathyris there too. The same?" Gwynna nodded.

"The last one is Viscum album. I'd have to order the other two. It'll take three days. Would that be all right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to. I'll come by in three days." Gwynna paid, greeted and left the shop while the woman thoughtfully looked after her. ‚I wonder if there's a new coven in the neighborhood,' she thought.

Then she went to the phone and ordered Asarum europeum and Atropa belladonna for her customer.


	6. Chapter 6

Cedric was awakened early by the sound of the count's hunting horns. After he had returned in the middle of the night, he felt so exhausted for three days that he could not leave his bed. He had aged by at least five years and it was clear to him that he had to stop these visits soon. Now he felt well enough to take care of his food supply. He urgently needed meat, because the cabbage he had grown himself and the salad were not enough to feed him. He didn't have any bread either, because he had to buy flour in the village, and he didn't have the money since the village eldest had banished him to the forest. Cedric had set traps for rabbits near his hut and was hoping for prey.

He stood up from the bed, which consisted of a straw sack, pulled on his coat shirt and strapped the leather belt with knife and bag around his hips. Finally he put on his dusty boots and left his hut. The door hung crooked in its hinges and squeaked terribly, but at least it was lockable. Cedric went deeper into the forest looking for his traps. He had no luck with the first two. Nothing trapped. So he went on. Suddenly he heard a squeal. Behind one of the bushes he had also laid a trap, but the animal inside did not seem to be a rabbit. Cedric carefully went to the bush and pushed the branches aside.

In the trap was a young wild boar, no more baby boar, but also not yet fully grown. It had already been wounded by a spear, for there was a gaping wound on its back. Apparently it had fallen into his trap and was now stuck with the front hoof in it. It squealed terribly and Cedric didn't know what to do at the moment. The animal was badly injured and would probably die even if he released it from the trap and let it run. Besides, his stomach was growling. The prospect of a good piece of meat made Cedric melt the water in his mouth. No one could be seen from the hunt, so Cedric pulled his knife and rammed it into the animal's throat until the squealing stopped. When it stopped moving, he pulled the hoof out of the trap and began to gut the animal.

Cedric was so busy that he overheard the footsteps of two men approaching him from behind.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? If it isn't a poacher." Cedric froze, jumped up and turned around. Behind him stood Bernulf and Brandolf, Kurgan's men, waiting for his reaction.

"I-I'm not a poacher," he stuttered in horror, dropping his blood-stained knife. "It was wounded and would have died anyway."

"And that gives you the right to take our Lord's prey ? You know the penalty for poaching." Bernulf stepped up to him and grabbed him by the shirt.

Cedric gasped. "I beg you! I wasn't poaching! It was almost dead! I would never take the Count's property! I swear it!"

Brandolf laughed scornfully. "You can tell the count that in person. You're coming with us" and with that he grabbed Cedric's other arm and both dragged the fiercely defending Cedric with them. "Mercy! I didn't do anything! Mercy!" Arriving at a clearing, he saw blurred that there was a wooden cart, on which other men of the castle loaded hunted game. Kurgan was nowhere to be seen.

"Tie him up and then put him on the cart. We caught him poaching" called Brandolf and pushed Cedric towards the cart. One of the men jumped off the cart and took a rope with which they tied Cedric's arms behind his back, shaking in fear. "Please! Please! Leave me alone!" Cedric wound himself.

"Shut up!" yell Bernulf at him. "You'll have time to moan later." And so two men hoisted him on the cart, next to the dead animals. The cart started immediately.

"Oh, God, what's gonna happen?" Cedric thought. Poaching was punishable by death and Kurgan killed without batting an eye. He hoped that the Count would be merciful because of his services and his healing arts, but that was also due to his mood. He had already experienced Kurgan cutting off a man's head with a grin because he happened to be in his way.

After a good half hour of bumpy driving through the forest, they reached the castle hill on which Kurgan's castle rose. The stones of the walls were so weathered that they looked almost black. Bernulf yelled a little at the guard of the drawbridge tower and slowly the iron lattice lifted so that the gate opening in front of the drawbridge became free. The cart rolled through, followed by Bernulf and Brandolf on their horses. The journey went through the second ring wall into the castle courtyard, where Brandolf swung from his horse and shouted:

"Wait here. I'll check on the count." With it he marched in the direction of the keep and disappeared inside. Cedric tried to get up on the cart, but Bernulf hit him in the back of the neck and he collapsed.

A few minutes later Brandolf came out again. "The lord's still fucking the girl." It'll be a while. Take this guy to the dungeon!"

Two men tore Cedric off the cart and dragged him, still dazed by the blow, down into the dungeon. A winding stone staircase led to a large room, which was supplied with daylight only by a barred window in the upper part of the wall. The walls had chains on different levels and several chains hung from the ceiling to hang prisoners. In the rear part of the room stood a stretching bench and a coarse wooden table with various torture tools.

Cedric was roughly pushed against the wall, so he fell to the ground. He stayed there and prayed to all the gods that he would not die. After a felt eternity he and the two men who had waited with him heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. In the doorway stood the Count von Krohn, this time only dressed in black leather trousers and a light-coloured shirt, which stood up wide at the front so that one could see his muscular chest. He had tied the black hair to the back. He looked silently at the miserable heap of man lying huddled together in front of the wall. Brandolf entered the dungeon shortly after his master.

"We caught him poaching. Cedric the healer, you know," he addressed to Kurgan.

"What did he shoot?" Kurgan asked and came closer to the trembling Cedric.

"A wild boar, sir. We saw it clearly."

"Like this?" Kurgan grabbed Cedric's neck and shook him back and forth like a puppy. "You're taking my property?" His voice echoed deep and rumbling through the room.

"My-Mylord. I-I-I-I haven't-been poaching. It was trapped in my trap and..." "Shut up!" Kurgan yelled at him. His staring blue eyes fixed Cedric. "Will you accuse my men of lying?"

"I-I, no, sir, they just didn't look right." Cedric couldn't stand his gaze anymore.

Kurgan's grip around Cedric's neck was reinforced. Cedric believed that his neck would break at any moment when the count suddenly let him go and Cedric fell to the ground.

Brandolf, who had observed the events motionlessly, asked: "What shall we do with him, Lord?

"Nothing." "Nothing, sir? You're letting him go?"

Kurgan looked at him. "Yes, he'll walk. He'll run for his life. Maybe he's lucky. Take him to the castle courtyard!"

Kurgan left the chamber, followed by Brandolf and Cedric, who was again grabbed by the men's arms and dragged upwards.

When he reached the top, the men took off his shackles. Cedric stared at the count in horror. What was he up to?

"You can walk. "And turned to Brandolf, "Bring me my axe." Brandolf went to the stable and returned a short time later with Kurgan's giant war axe. Cedric didn't see that anymore, because he stumbled and ran for his life, out of the courtyard, over the drawbridge through the gate. His lungs were burning, every breath was a torture but knew only one goal. Get away! As fast as you can. Once he'd reached the forest, he'd be saved!

Kurgan took a quick stride behind Cedric, who was running away. He stepped out of the gate just as Cedric had almost reached the first trees and swung his axe with mighty force.

Cedric heard the soft buzzing as the axe flew through the air, still trying to hit a hook, but prevented from doing so by a large stone along the way. A burning pain twitched through his body as the axe devoured his back and he went to the ground. The last thing Cedric could think of was his niece before he breathed out his last breath.

Kurgan watched the man fall and then turned around. On the way back, the Viking Einar stepped up to him. "What do we do with that one and the girl?"

"To the cart and back to the village. Let them take care of it." So Kurgan disappeared back into the keep. "And tell the cook to prepare the boar for me!"

Some time later, the horse cart with the maltreated bodies of Cedric, whose blood dripped to the ground, and the village girl who had unfortunately met the lord on the hunt and whose neck Kurgan had broken after the rape, rolled back to the village.


	7. Chapter 7

Gwynna's time as a house sitter was slowly approaching its end. In the meantime she had gathered all the herbs she needed for the spell. She didn't know if she'd ever use it, though. Her fear was too great to end up in a completely different time than Cedric. She decided to wait for the next meeting with him to get as much information as possible. Only then would she consider whether she would dare to take the step. One day before Gwynna wanted to go back, Elizabeth came back from her trip and said goodbye.

"I hope we see you soon again Miss Gwendolyn," said Elizabeth as Gwynna brought her suitcase to the car. Gwynna thought about the next meeting with Cedric and said, "I plan to come back in three months. I have to take time for myself more often, I've realized that by now." Gwynna hugged Elizabeth one last time and got into her car.

The next few weeks went like clockwork for Gwynna. She worked through several weekends and took shifts from her colleagues to distract herself. Occasionally her friend Melissa could motivate her to visit bars. They also got to know numerous men, some tried to persuade Gwynna to go on a date. But she wasn't really interested in anyone. Most of them seemed slimy and lying to her. As the third full moon approached, she had collected enough overtime to get a few days off. Her grandmother was very surprised that Gwynna wanted to visit her for several days when she called her.

"Child, that makes us very happy that you come back to us so quickly. Does this have something to do with Roger Petersen?"

"No. I told you he had a new girlfriend. According to his mother, they even want to get engaged."

"That's too bad, but we'll find someone for you."

"Granny, I'll only come if you promise you won't set me up again."

"Gwendolyn, I only want your best. It's not good for you to be alone all the time. You need a partner. You have to think about something other than your career."

"Granny, I'll see you then. I have to go." Gwynna hung up on that.

Three days later Gwynna packed her suitcases again and took a warm cardigan with her in wise foresight. The journey to the Hamptons took much longer this time, as she got stuck in rush hour. After 4 hours she finally arrived at her grandparents' house. Her grandfather carried her suitcase upstairs. Then she joined her grandparents for afternoon tea in the salon. After all the news was exchanged, she retired to her old nursery. She had hidden the bags of herbs in her closet. She wanted to take them with her to show Cedric if they were the right herbs.

Finally the full moon night had come. Gwynna had to sneak out of the house quietly. She had Cedric's book and chalk with her in case he showed her how to draw the pentagram. Beside her flashlight she also brought Cedric's lamp. Maybe he wanted it back. The park was in total darkness when she arrived. She lit the way to the oak tree and sat in front of it on a pillow she had brought with her. She placed the lantern next to her and watched the candle, whose flame burned quietly. There was absolutely no wind, but the beginning of autumn already announced frosty nights.

Gwynna waited. And waited. After a while, she got nervous. Where'd he go? Had he stood her up? Maybe something happened to him? She stood up and walked around the oak, as she had done the first time. She looked in the hollow of the tree. Maybe Cedric left her a message. But there was nothing there either. Gwynna pulled the cardigan around her upper body. Slowly she got cold. She feverishly considered what to do now. Keep waiting ? If Cedric came and she'd gone, would he ever come back?

Suddenly the noises in the park seemed uncanny to her. She couldn't wait forever. She had to make a decision. Basically, she had all things together for the spell, but she was afraid of her own courage. She was particularly afraid that she might end up in a completely different age than Cedric and that would not help him or her. Nevertheless, she felt obliged, as his last living relative, to seek him out or clarify what had happened. He could also be seriously ill and wasn't she a doctor?

With a trembling hand, Gwynna reached for her bag, held it close to the candle, and rummaged for the chalk. Then she took out the herbs and the book and began to paint on the ground beside the oak the pentagram depicted in the book. It was crooked because of the uneven ground, but she couldn't do better. Then she took a handful of herbs from each bag and placed each herb in a spike of the pentagram. Then she took her flashlight and sat down in front of the pentagram and quoted the spell in the book:

Atomriug indiu

Niurt tren togairm trindoit

cretim treodatad

Foisin oendatad

Atomriug indiu

Niurt gene Christ cona bathius

Niurt a chrochtho cona adnacul

Gwynna could not prevent the fear sweat from running down her forehead as she quoted the passages. When she had pronounced the last word, she lowered the lantern and the book and waited with a held breath. First happened - nothing. Dead silence, the rustling of the crowns of leaves, rustling in the bushes, quietly scurrying animals over the lawn...

But suddenly this noise began, just like during Cedric's visit. A quiet buzzing like hundreds, no thousands of bees. It became louder and louder and louder and out of nowhere suddenly a light blue light appeared, which became bigger and brighter from second to second. It radiated an incredible power and warmth, at the same time Gwynna felt magically drawn to this light, that now the same size as she had reached and shone to the ground. Gwynna stood up, took her bag, stuck her book and flashlight into the herbs and slowly walked towards the above-ground shimmering light that had now taken on the shape of a door. The closer she came, the more she felt a pull that attracted her to go into the light. She carefully stretched out an arm. Immediately it was swallowed by the glistening light. Just one more step and she was completely surrounded by this door of light.

Just one more step...

The pull became overwhelming. Gwynna felt torn into it, she had to close her eyes, otherwise she would have been blinded. Suddenly she had the feeling that the air was being pressed out of her lungs. She desperately tried to breathe, then she was sucked into a tunnel of light, whirled around her own axis and lost consciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

Brother Erland stood in the Garwehaus (= sacristy) and just placed the silver Hostien cup, which was the pride of the congregation and had recently been donated by the village elder, Konrad, and his wife Absildis, in the cupboard and locked it with his heavy iron key when he heard a rumble in the sanctuary. The small village church had been the victim of vandals before, who had devastated the interior, so he walked quickly through the door and followed the sound until he saw a young woman lying on the stone floor. She was strangely dressed, wearing blue trousers, a wool jacket and a kind of brown bag.

He came closer and bent down to see if the woman was still breathing. When he saw her thorax rise, he began to shake her shoulder. "What about you? You can't lie here!" But she didn't react. What should he do now? He shook her again, this time more roughly and shouted at her: "Wake up woman!" Without further ado, Brother Erland went back to the sacristy and came back with a clay jug. He poured the water in a high arc on the young woman and indeed, she slowly came to.

Gwynna suddenly felt wetness on her face and she began to cough violently. She struggled for air, her arm, which had been bent under her upper body, stretched out and her hand palpated a cold stone floor. She slowly opened her eyes, raised her head and faced a middle-aged man in a brown frock who spoke up loudly to her. At first she understood nothing, but then his words made sense. Was that Latin? She had always loved languages and in Latin she had been the best in her class. Gwynna supported herself with her arms so that she could continue to straighten up to look the man, obviously a monk, in the face.

"Where am I?" she asked, her voice sounded hoarse and scratchy.

"Child, you are in my church. Where are you from? Why are you dressed like that? You're wearing men's clothes, the women aren't allowed to do that."

"What year do we have? What country?" Gwynna sat up completely and crossed her legs cross-legged. Her head boomed and her eyes were still sensitive to light, so she closed them short.

"It is the year of the Lord 1510 and you are in Saxony. Have you lost your memory? Can you remember your name?"

"M-my name is Gwendolyn. I'm looking for my Uncle Cedric."

"Cedric?" So the young woman was not a simple village girl, because Cedric had been a well-read man and she obviously understood Latin. Brother Erland stared at her. She was a relative of the healer, whose maltreated body had been found three weeks ago in the middle of the village square. Pity overtook him as he looked at the young woman. In her condition to transmit this message, he did not bring over the heart. He stepped up to Gwynna.

"Come on, I'll help you up. You'll get yourself killed if you sit on the rocks. I had to pour water over you to make you come to." Gwynna noticed now that her hair was wet and the wool jacket hung on her like a rag.

"Tell me where Cedric is, Father..." "Brother Erland I am called, my child." He took her arm and pulled Gwynna up until she stood before him on wobbly legs.

"I'll take you to our village elder first, then we'll see everything else. Come on."

Brother Erland pushed Gwynna towards the door. She could take a few steps with shaky legs, but felt terribly weak and exhausted and had to hold on to Brother Erland.

The church was situated directly on the village square, where now towards dusk the peace slowly returned. A wagon bumped past, pulled by a tired donkey, and a few children tried to escape their grumbling mothers, who wanted to bring them into the houses for supper. Brother Erland took Gwynna with him to one of the larger stone houses whose windows were already locked. He and the strangely dressed girl were followed by the glances of the remaining villagers.

Gwynna still felt dizzy. Her thoughts circulated wildly. She had noticed that the monk knew her uncle, but why had he not answered her question? She looked at him, but Brother Erland avoided her eyes. Instead, he tried to tell her something about the village, but Gwynna didn't listen to him.

"Konrad has been our village elder since the death of his father two years ago. He's a merchant. He's brought some prosperity. He was able to multiply it by marrying the daughter of a cloth maker. Both are pious people and I'm sure they'll be happy to help you, my child."

Arriving at the house, he slammed his hand against the front door until a young girl, dressed in coarse brown woolen fabric with a beige apron, her brown hair wrapped in a plait around the back of her head, opened it to them.

"Gret," he said to the girl who looked at him with blunt blue eyes, "go to your mistress and tell her brother Erland has come with a guest." The girl curtsied and let them in. She stared at Gwynna.

"That's the maid," he remarked to Gwynna as they walked through the door. Behind it was a dark hallway. They followed the girl to a wooden door. Gret opened it and said to the person who was obviously there:

"Madam, this is the priest Erland. He wants to see you."

"Shall enter," a female voice sounded.

Gret stood next to the open door and waved her hand into the room. Brother Erland went first and Gwynna followed him. As she stepped through the door, she found herself in a wood-panelled room with coarse carpets on the walls to soften the cold of the stone walls. A fire was burning in a fireplace. The lady of the house sat at a small wooden table with several candles on it and embroidered a large cloth. Next to her sat an eight-year-old girl, unmistakably her daughter, and also embroidered part of the cloth in the light of the candle. The wooden shutter was still a gap open to let in the last light of the day. Until now, windows made of bull's-eye panes were only available in the church.

Absildis rose. She wore a simple dress of dark blue wool fabric, with a laced bodice from which the white undershirt protruded, and a bonnet lined with lace at the edge, covering almost all of her hair. Except for a gold wedding ring, she didn't wear any jewelry. She was clearly smaller than Gwynna and reached just up to her shoulder. Her daughter looked with big eyes at the new arrivals. She also wore a dress of dark blue wool, a white apron and had her long light brown hair open and parted in the middle.

"Brother Erland. What a pleasure to welcome you here. My husband left for business this morning. So I'm the only one here, but maybe I can help you too? If you've come for the altar cloth - you see, we're eagerly working on it, but it will take a while." She smiled nicely, increasing the wrinkles under her eyes, and offered the priest a place at the table. Then she looked at Gwynna and said something Gwynna didn't understand. Brother Erland translated. "She welcomes you. You may sit as well."

So they both sat down at the table. A short time later Gret came with a tray on which stood a jug of warm spiced wine and three wooden cups. She put everything on the table and disappeared. Absildis took the jug and filled the cups for her guests and herself.

Since Absildis could not speak Latin, she and Erland spoke Old German, so that Gwynna could only sit next to it in silence. She felt the child's eyes on her and looked at her, whereupon the little one turned red and devoted herself again to her embroidery.

"Madam Absildis, I found this young woman in my church today. She seems to be a relative of the healer Cedric, for she asked about him and his whereabouts."

"Did you tell her what happened?" Absildis asked with a raised forehead.

"No, she didn't appear to me in the condition to take such a message."

"And why do you bring her to us? You know how my husband felt about Cedric. He banished him from the village."

"I know, but I didn't know what to do with her. She can't stay in the church, she doesn't even speak our language. I can only communicate with her in Latin. She couldn't stay with the ordinary people of the village. Look at her."

Absildis took a deep sip from her cup.

"I see what you mean. Those clothes. Strange. I have heard, however, that Cedric appeared here in a very similar way the first time. And yet he's proved very useful. My father-in-law thought highly of him."

Brother Erland also drank from the cup and nodded to Gwynna to do the same. The wine was sweet and the spices made it pleasant and warm. Gwynna noticed immediately how her tension was released.

"Madam Absildis, I feel obliged to help her. We could give her her uncle's old shack, but I'm afraid it's not habitable right now. Moreover, one would first have to bring our life habits close to her, if she wanted to stay here and then the clothes... She needs decent women's clothes. Not those man pants." Brother Erland turned up his nose.

"You ask a lot, but you know that if you vouch for her, she shall be welcome in my house until she can live her own life. Maybe she is well versed in healing arts, because we urgently need a healer, the barber can only pull teeth and nothing else. See if there's anything she can do to help. The more likely the villagers would accept her in our midst. As for the clothes... "Absildis looked at Gwynna insistently," it won't be that easy. She's bigger than most of the women in the village, so she couldn't get a ready-made dress, that wouldn't cover her. I'd have to have a dress sewn for her."

Brother Erland looked at her expectantly: "I'm sure you'll find a solution. Maybe she can work off the cost of a dress for you." He drank the last sip of wine in his cup and looked at the jug until Absildis poured the rest for him.

"She can sleep in the chamber with Gret meanwhile. We'll put another straw sack in it."

"Thank you, Madam Absildis. If you will permit me, I will pass on our plans to the young woman, Gwendolyn, by the way."

Brother Erland finally turned to Gwynna and told her in detail what he had discussed with the lady of the house and that she should live in this house for the time being and help Absildis.

"Of course you can always contact me, dear child, if you have any questions." Brother Erland patted Gwynna's and gave a relieved impression that he had surrendered this burden. However, he had not expected Gwynna's reaction.

"Yes, Brother Erland, I have a question. You still haven't told me where my uncle is. And I don't want to hear any more excuses!" Gwynna raised her voice and looked at the monk angrily.

He jerked together and also Absildis and her daughter looked confused at the outburst of feeling of her strange guest.

"Well, I uh, I thought you'd rest for a while and we'd discuss everything tomorrow," Brother Erland said in an uncertain voice.

"No! Now! Or I'll leave the house immediately and find him myself!"

Gwynna jumped up and wanted to storm to the door when Erland grabbed her by the arm and told her to sit down again.

He sighed. How he would have liked to have given this task to someone else. At least Gwynna seemed more stable to him now to hear such a message than before.

"All right." Sigh. "My dear child, you must be brave now. Because I have sad news for you. Your uncle is no more. He died about three weeks ago and was buried in the churchyard. I'm sorry."

Gwynna believed that the floor under her feet would be pulled away. She looked at the monk in horror:

"How is that possible? Was he sick? All of a sudden? Was it an accident? In the woods? What happened? What happened? For God's sake, say something!"

Brother Erland looked towards Absildis, who barely shook her head before he replied: "I can't tell you exactly what happened. To your question, yes, it was probably an accident. They found him bleeding heavily in the woods and brought him here. But he was already deceased, so we couldn't ask him any more." He bowed his head. "May his soul rest in peace."

Gwynna closed her eyes when she noticed tears running down her face. That's why he didn't come, her uncle was dead! And she had travelled in vain to this time and was now all alone. She cried softly as Absildis stood up, stepped behind her and put her hand compassionately on her shoulder.

"Poor girl." She said to Brother Erland, "Do not tell her that the Count killed him. Not that she gets any ideas. And nothing from the blacksmith's daughter either. You know, Bedila, who was brought with him. It's dangerous for them to meet the Count. She's a pretty girl and he'd notice her right away. And you know what happens then."

Absildis turned to the door, opened it and shouted, "Gret!"

After a few minutes the maid appeared in the door.

"Mistress?"

"Bring our guest Gewndolyn to your chamber and fetch a straw sack and a blanket for her. And a plate of bread and cheese if she's hungry. Tomorrow morning, you'll go to Agnes the seamstress. Tell her to come and fit her a dress. Do you understand me?"

"Of course, mistress." Gret curtsied and went to Gwynna to make gestures to mean coming with her.

Gwynna stood up and looked over to Brother Erland, who had now also stood up, wiping her tear-wet eyes with the back of her hand.

"Go with her, child. And try to sleep. Tomorrow a seamstress will come and take your measurements for a dress. See you soon, Gwendolyn."

And so the monk bowed to Absildis and quickly left the house, while the three women and the child silently looked at each other.

Finally Gwynna followed the maid up the stairs to the first floor and then a steep staircase to the attic. Gret lit a candle in front of her. On the top floor, Gret had a small chamber with a window whose shutters were locked, a straw sack, a small table and a cupboard for her belongings. She meant Gwynna to sit on the straw sack and disappeared again, so that the chamber was immersed in darkness. Some time later she came back and pulled a kind of straw mattress covered with coarse cloth behind her and laid it on the floor next to her own bed. Then she put the candle on the table and took a scratchy blanket out of the closet.

Gret got rid of her simple dress and apron and climbed onto her mattress, dressed only in her shirt. She waited for Gwynna to undress as well, but she only got rid of her jacket and shoes and crawled under the blanket. Gret said something else to her which was supposed to mean "good night" and blew out the candle. Soon you could hear Gret's quiet snoring, while Gwynna stayed awake for a long time and thought about what had happened to her. Eventually she was overcome by sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning Gret started her daily program already at 5 o'clock. When she got up from bed, she ripped open the wooden shutters so that cold air and the brightness of the morning streamed into the chamber. Then she put on her long stockings, the dress over her head and straightened the bodice which was laced at the front. Finally she tied an apron around herself, combed her stringy hair and braided it into a braid that was tied to the back of her head with a wooden comb. Then she grabbed the plate of bread and cheese that Gwynna had spurned the night before and went over it, smacking extra loud so Gwynna would wake up. Finally she poked noisily into her teeth with a straw before slipping into her shoes and slamming the door shut as she left the chamber.

Gwynna had waited with closed eyes until the maid left the room to rise. She froze pathetically and felt dirty. How she longed for a hot shower! But she would probably have to do without it in the future if she stayed here any longer. The thought, of course, was to return to her time now that Cedric was no longer alive. She looked for her bag, which was lying in a corner, and rummaged for the herbs and the book. To her horror, she found that Brother Erland's water attack yesterday had seriously damaged the book. Some pages were baked together, the writing partly smeared and therefore no longer legible. "Damn, the book's ruined. She tried to carefully solve the side with the spell at the back, but quickly gave up when the side ran the risk of tearing. She had to let the book dry first. Maybe then you could pull the pages apart. The herbs were fortunately protected in the plastic bags and undamaged.

Gwynna ran his hands makeshift through his hair. She didn't have a comb or braces with her, so that it flowed freely over her back. Then she put on her jacket and shoes and finally left the chamber in the attic. On the first floor seemed to be the premises of the landlord and his family. There was still dead silence, because the servants usually rose one to two hours before the reign. So Gwynna went down the next stairs and found her way to the chamber where she had been yesterday. The room was dark, the shutters still tightly closed, so she decided, after a look into the room, to explore the house further. To the left of the chamber was another door. When Gwynna opened it, she heard a soft babble of voices and the rattling of crockery.

She walked down the hall and finally stood in a spacious kitchen where a small roundish woman stood by the stove and stirred in a pot, while the maid Gret spoke to her and immediately fell silent when she saw Gwynna enter. The door to the courtyard opened and a large man with red cheeks, grey hair and beard entered the kitchen. He carried a half of a pig over his shoulder. He stopped for a moment, looked at the strange young woman from top to bottom and then disappeared towards a chamber behind the kitchen. The old woman at the stove turned back to her pot and continued to stir while she threw spices into the pot with one hand. Gret looked at Gwynna contemptuously. What was that crazy woman doing in her house? How could she walk around like that? She wasn't an honorable woman, the maid thought, stood up and pushed herself past Gwynna to the door.

Gwynna felt lost, as she didn't know whether she should go or stay. As long as the landlady hadn't appeared, there was nothing she could do. She could have walked through the village and explored everything, but she didn't want to attract more attention than she already did. So she sat down at a long wooden table on the bench and looked around. The stove was large and blackened with soot. Here, too, a fire was burning. The skewers leaning against the wall next to it indicated the use as grill skewers. On one wall stood a large shelf with numerous pots and pans. Then came the door to the courtyard through which the man had just walked. He already came back and had the woman present pay him some coins before he disappeared greeting. Gwynna suspected it had been the village butcher.

The old woman now tasted the contents of the large pot, threw in herbs again and seemed satisfied. She took a small wooden bowl from the wall shelf and a wooden spoon and scooped something from the pot into it and brought the filled bowl to Gwynna sitting at the table. With a wave of her hand she asked her to eat and then went back to the stove.

Gwynna took the spoon and shoved it into the bowl. It seemed to be a kind of stew with green vegetables, carrots, cereals and one or two pieces of meat. Anyway, it was hot and Gwynna suddenly realized how hungry she was. She put the spoon in and lifted it to her mouth. She had to blow a few times until the temperature was comfortable and swallowed the contents down. She tasted green beans, cabbage, various herbs and probably also salad. It tasted unusual but not bad at all. Soon she eagerly spooned out the rest of the stew until there was no crumb left in the bowl. The warmth that flowed through her was pleasant and Gwynna sighed contentedly.

Just as she was finished, Gret came back and waved at her to follow her. She led them into the lady's chamber, whose windows were now wide open and letting the fresh air in. The housewife was already waiting. This time she wore a dark grey dress with blue lacing on the bodice and embroidery on the sleeves. A long thin gold chain adorned her neck. On her head she wore the same bonnet as the day before. She smiled nicely as she became aware of the young woman. "Good morning, Gwendolyn. I hope you slept well? I hope Gret didn't wake you up too early."

Gwynna understood nothing but her name and just nodded. She now wanted Brother Erland back, with whom she could at least talk. Absildis noticed that her guest didn't understand a word, so she gestured to her that she should take a seat on a chair.

Gwynna sat down at the table again when the little girl from yesterday came in and was greeted by her mother with a kiss on her forehead. "This is my daughter Fulcrada. She's eight. My son Gebhard is travelling with his father. I have an older daughter from my first marriage who is brought up in a monastery and soon comes to visit. Gret! Gret! Bring the morning soup!" Gret dragged a large bowl with the soup and smaller bowls and cups. Spoons of pewter, a beer mug and freshly baked bread, Absildis filled the bowls for her daughter and her guest, although Gwynna thankfully refused, as she had already eaten and had beer in the cups.

Gwynna took a sip of the beer. It tasted sweeter than she was used to. Of course she would have preferred to have had a coffee, but unfortunately it did not exist at that time. So she drank the cup slowly and took a spoon of the stew in between so as not to be rude. This family seemed to eat well and regularly. No one seemed emaciated or malnourished.

After a while, when the women had eaten in silence, the door was knocked and Gret came in: "Mistress, the seamstress has come to take the measurements."

"Oh, yeah, well, hurry on in with her." ‚The sooner Gwendolyn had adequate clothing, the sooner she could be officially presented to the village community,' she thought.

Gwynna looked up and saw an old woman step into the room. She had a pronounced hump and the snow-white hair stood wild around her head. She wore a dark green cape over her dress, which she opened in the room and handed it over to the maid. Then she bowed to the landlady: "Madam Absildis, you have called me ? Has your daughter grown again? Or shall it be something for you?" She did not notice Gwynna sitting at the table.

"No Agnes, I ask you for a dress for our guest. Her name is Gwendolyn and she's Cedric's niece."

"Oh my goodness!" the old woman exclaimed with dismay and turned her eyes to Gwynna. "Does she know that the Count...!" The old woman fell silent.

"She knows that Cedric is no longer alive. She doesn't understand our language. Only Brother Erland can communicate with her in Latin. So you don't have to be afraid. Nevertheless, you should rather not mention the count." Absildis took a cup of beer and handed it to the seamstress.

"Gwendolyn needs a dress and a cape outside. Now that it's getting colder, it's more like something warm."

"And who's gonna pay for all this? Did Cedric leave her anything?"

"I don't know, but he shouldn't have had much. I'll pay for it. Cedric helped us a lot free of charge, even when Fulcrada was so seriously ill years ago that I thought we would lose her. But Cedric cured her and I should give his niece something back."

Gwynna had been following the conversation the whole time. Now the old woman put her brought basket on the floor, stepped up to Gwynna, grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Now come, my little dove, and let me look at you." She pushed Gwynna into the middle of the room and then walked around her.

"Pretty grown, pretty tall, pretty hair;" Agnes mumbled and then pulled a tape measure out of her basket. "She will break the hearts of the village lads. Believe me!"

"But no, Agnes, I don't think she'd be a suitable partner for the village lads." Absildis probably shook his head. "I imagine her more as a healer. So is her uncle. Where else could she get Latin?"

"Was it true, but as a woman alone here? Without protection ? With what's in the castle? For the rabid guys and the count, she'd be the ideal prey."

"Agnes!" called Absildis disgusted. She didn't like it when noble gentlemen were badly spoken of. Even if they did not come from the region, they had inherited rights with their position and this included taking women who belonged to the common people.

"The men in the castle are all single. Even the count has not married a lady yet. Of course they take advantage of the opportunities. And we all know that Bedila was no longer a blank page. What was she doing in the woods?"

"Madam Absildis, you are too indulgent. It wasn't just Bedila. Two months ago, the farmer's daughter, you know who supplies you with cabbage, was raped by one of the northmen. And the count himself took a girl from the neighbouring village. I understand she was tortured and abused. Since then, she's lost her mind." The old woman kept chatting as she took the measurements. She made no notes at all, but seemed to store everything in her memory. Gwynna hated it when people talked and she didn't understand anything. She felt completely superfluous. She wanted to know what they were talking about in such detail. She decided to leave the house later and search for Brother Erland.

After all, the old lady was finally finished. "What color for the dress?" Absildis looked at Gwynna: "I think grey for the dress and dark green for the cape. Make it a hood."

"As you wish. God be with you, Madam Absildis!" And gone was the seamstress.

Gwynna pointed to the door and pointed to the church to make Absildis understand what she wanted. She nodded. "Yes, of course. Go to Brother Erland, you can talk to him."

So Gwynna went from the house back to the church. Brother Erland stood at a desk in the sacristy and read the Bible when Gwynna entered.

"My child!" he said in surprise. I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

"Sorry to bother you, but I'd like to see my uncle's grave." Gwynna felt her tears rise again.

"Of course, I'll show you." Brother Erland stood up and Gwynna followed him to the back of the sacristy. Behind the door was the small cemetery of the village. At the outermost end there were two fresh mounds of earth with simple wooden crosses without names. He pointed to the right hill. "There lies Cedric." "And the grave next to it?"

"Uh, this is Bedila, the blacksmith's daughter. She too died recently."

Gwynna went to her uncle's grave and laid her hand on the ground. Tears ran down her face. She whispered, "I'm so sorry, Cedric. You died here alone and we had just found each other again."

Brother Erland said a short prayer. Then Gwynna rose and both marched back to the church. In the sacristy, Gwynna took a seat in a chair, while Brother Erland went back to his reading desk, where the open Bible lay.

"Please tell me about the village. The story of who lives here, etc."

"I'd love to. The village has been around for four hundred years. We are under the reign of the Count von Krohn. There are fifteen villages in the surrounding area that also belong to him. Two farms belong to our village. The children receive Bible lessons from me, because there is no school here yet. Cedric was our healer, but the village elder had driven him away." "Why?"

"It was noticeable that despite his twenty years with us, he showed no natural aging. Konrad suspected him of being in league with the devil and banished him."

"There's one barber left now who can pull teeth and straighten broken joints, but he's a right bungler. Then we have the midwife and the blacksmith. Once a week there is a market, and traders come from farther away to offer their goods. Meanwhile the village elder has good contacts in many cities. So it's going ahead."

"And the count?"

"The Lord lives in his castle, half an hour's walk from here. "He rarely comes to see us, which some people don't blame at all."

"Why, what about him?"

Well, he's a man from far away. He killed the lord of the castle and took possession of his land. He killed every living soul in the castle. Not only the count, also his wife, the two sons, the castle chaplain, all servants. He's scary. Huge in shape, just like his war horse and his sword. As long as we pay the taxes on time, he won't make any trouble. You see his men occasionally in the village tavern. You have to be careful of them. There are usually four to seven men: two blonde Vikings Einar and Aegir, then Wido and Arnulf, two Franks, and Alfred, Bernulf and Brandolf. But that's not all of them. But we don't see the other henchmen here.

"The men drink here in the tavern ? And the Count isn't?"

"Very rarely. And if he is, he's up to something. Usually not a good sign. The last time he visited the blacksmith, he said that horseshoes had been badly forged. He just bent it and beat the blacksmith with it."

"Oh, my God. What a monster."

"I know. But he is our master. We must endure it. Otherwise, he'll let us live. But as a woman alone... child promises me not to go alone into the forest and certainly not to his castle." Erland looked at her seriously. "There in the woods, he often hunts."

"I understand. I'll be careful, I promise," Gwynna said.

"I'd like to know where I can live once I get settled in. I'm a doc…uh a healer and I'd like to work here as a... healer."

"Cedric's old shack at the end of the village I'd say. I can show it to you, but it would have to be repaired first."

"I'd love to. Can we go right now?"

Gwynna was happy to see a place where Cedric had lived so long.

But the sight of the hut made her disillusionated. The door was missing, the shutters were only in fragments and the wooden floor was covered with leaves, dust and dirt. The roof was leaking and all the furniture was missing.

"Don't worry," Erland said when he saw Gwynna's horrified expression on her face, "we'll fix it up so you can live in it. I assume his belongings are in Cedric's cabin in the woods. We can get them."

"Then I'll go with you. I want to see what else he had. Which might be valuable to me."

"All right, Gwendolyn, but not now. Now you have to learn our language and get used to it. And then we'll see."

And so Gwynna's time in this village began at the beginning of the 16th century.


	10. Chapter 10

Six months later.

The door to the hut opened creaking as one person, firmly wrapped in her cape, entered the room. Folding her hood back, she closed the door and ran immediately to the fireplace to stoke the fire. She took a log from the iron basket and ignited the flames until they blazed brightly and radiated a pleasant warmth. Then she hung the pot with the now cooled soup over the fire and warmed her fingers. Fortunately the first days of spring were approaching, because the winter had been terrible. Gwynna had never seen so much snow, neither in New York nor in the Hamptons. Therefore she had spent most of her time in Konrad's house and practiced Old German. In the meantime she had already mastered the language quite well and was able to follow the conversations of the villagers.

Gwynna took her wooden bowl from the table and filled it with the boiling soup. She took another piece of bread from the cupboard, sat down at the table and began to eat. She's been thinking about the last six months. What happened? Two weeks after her arrival Konrad had returned with many goods and his son. How big was his surprise when he found Gwynna in his house? She remembered her first encounter with him: he was a lean man with thin black hair, piercing eyes and a pinched mouth. He wore an expensive brown velvet vest, leather trousers and an expensive dagger on his belt. He was obviously not pleased to see her and all the less so when his wife told him that she was not only a relative of Cedrics, but also that she would be a guest in her house until further notice.

"Another useless eater?" Konrad said to his wife. "And then the niece of Cedric? Woman, you're overdoing your Christian duty." It annoyed him even more that his wife had ordered clothes for Gwendolyn instead of giving her clothes worn out by her servants.

"What is she, a highborn?" Konrad scolded loudly. "The gown of a maid is enough!" Unfortunately he couldn't unsubscribe anymore, because Agnes had already finished them. He demanded that Gwynna make herself useful in the house and so Gwynna found herself sitting in the chamber in the evenings embroidering the altar cloth while she was cleaning vegetables and kneading dough during the day.

When Agnes brought the clothes, Gwynna was surprised how well it was fitting. The dress was in two parts. A bodice made of dark grey wool fabric, the neckline and sleeves of which were lined with a dark red ribbon. The lacing was also red. Absildis had given her a white shirt to wear underneath. The skirt was bell-shaped with two petticoats and the hem was also decorated with a red ribbon. She had also made her a dark green cape with a large hood, which made Gwynna's head disappear completely. Gwynna was happy about these things, as the temperature had dropped considerably in the last few days. She only had to wear her own shoes, because Konrad refused to pay for a new pair.

Konrad continued to behave harshly and unfriendly towards her, even when she began to speak Old German. He told her openly that he had no conversations with the womenfolk and that she had to go out of his sight. And so he retreated into his office in a disgruntled mood. Unlike his father, Gebhard, the son of Konrad and Absildis, was enchanted by Gwynna from the beginning. He counted seventeen years and was already trained by his father in all things of merchant life, to one day succeed him. He was half a head smaller than her, also had black hair, friendly brown eyes, a round face and a slight belly base. He was only too happy to give Gwynna language lessons and enjoyed spending many hours in her presence, never alone of course, that was unseemly with unmarried people, and languished on them until his father came into the room and ordered him to his office.

Of course Konrad had watched his son attentively and Gebhard's enthusiasm did not escape him. In his opinion Gwynna was to blame for everything and so one Sunday after mass he complained to Brother Erland: "This woman is twisting my son's head! Imagine that! What kind of louse have you put in my fur? Gebhard wants to court her!" Konrad talked himself more and more into rage, until brother Erland put his hand on his arm, calming him down.

"Gwendolyn was already with me. She's uncomfortable too. I can assure you she has no intentions whatsoever towards Gebhard. She would like to avoid him and so I come back to my original plan to fix up her uncle's cabin for her. What do you think? Then your problems would be solved and you could take care of your lovesick son."

"The hut is uninhabitable," Konrad replied.

"Yes, it is, but we need some men and we could make it habitable. I was going to consult with some men from the village on the subject."

And this happened a few days later, when Gebhard ran after Gwynna again, languishing, that his father let the carpenter, the blacksmith, brother Erland and brother of the blacksmith come to him. It was agreed to inspect Cedric's hut in the forest and take everything with them that could be used. Then the carpenter would make additional furniture and install a new door and shutters. The blacksmith's brother wanted to repair the roof and look after the chimney flue, while the blacksmith himself wanted to forge the iron hinges for the door and windows. Since Kurgan had beaten him up, five frontal teeth were missing in his mouth. The blacksmith named Ervid also took it upon himself to drive with Gwynna to her uncle's hut in the woods and inspect it.

Nobody had been there since Cedric died. A thick layer of dust covered the inventory, but the table, chair and shelf were still usable. Gwynna could also load a pot and a pan onto the wagon. In a small box she found handwritten notes by Cedric on various medicinal herbs, some of which he had also drawn. Gwynna took these too, but left the straw sack behind. She didn't find any clothes, nor any other personal things. On the way back to the village, Gwynna sat silently on the coach box, while Ervid made every effort to flirt with her. Since the death of his wife 5 years ago and the death of his daughter a few weeks ago he was alone and looking for a woman. Gwynna politely but firmly rejected any approach by the blacksmith.

'That can be cheerful', she thought, 'how many men in the village walked on free feet? In fact, in the next few weeks single men repeatedly approached her to sound out her chances, but had to leave disappointed when Gwynna showed them the door. Little by little the hut became cosy. Gwynna had a woman from the village explain the loom to her and woven two wall hangings for her walls. Finally the roof was repaired and Gwynna could move in. Absildis' cook Hildegard gave her a large loaf of freshly baked bread and a sausage as a farewell present. Gwynna had taken the cook into her heart, as she was the only one who had approached her friendly and unreservedly from the beginning.

The other villagers were skeptical about her and Gwynna heard not only once hateful remarks when she passed groups of them. Even the fact that Gwynna wanted to work as a healer was not easy for some. In addition, she had no plants for pastes, dressings or infusions. She wouldn't be able to look around in the woods until spring to build up a stock. So in winter she sat around largely useless. So she regularly visited Brother Erland, attended Mass on Sunday, and helped Absildis and her daughter embroider the altar cloth. It should be finished by Easter at the latest and presented on Easter Sunday. At Christmas Absildis invited her to her table. Because of Gebhard, Gwynna refused at first, but since Brother Erland was also invited, she finally agreed.

A roast pork was served up with vegetables and wine, which Konrad brought from Italy. Absildis gave Gwynna an embroidered border for a dress and Gebhard a roll of cloth left over from the last sale as the ladies didn't like the colour. The village heard nothing of the castle during the winter. The count was travelling with his men to faraway lands, so that no incidents occurred. At the village well there had been a brawl among village boys and a fox had poached in the chicken house, but nothing more had happened. During the winter four villagers died, including Agnes, the seamstress who had slipped on the frozen ground and broken her neck. Under unprintable curses the gravedigger had to dig the graves in the deepest winter.

Slowly, very slowly, spring came. The first snowdrops stretched their heads through the snow, the sun shone longer and thawed it and the temperatures moved out of the minus range. At Easter the first Easter bells blossomed, so that the people celebrated Easter with joy in the small church.


	11. Chapter 11

Gwynna's cabin trembled one morning, so she almost fell out of bed. The quake was caused by hooves thundering across the ground. Gwynna got up drunk asleep and went to the window, carefully opened the shutter and looked out. All she saw was a cloud of dust and the last rider on his war horse. The group quickly moved away towards the exit of the village and it was not long before the news bypassed the village: the Lord was back.

A little later a fully loaded car rattles across the village street. Obviously, the Count had made rich prey. There were also two young women sitting next to the coachman, both dressed in colourful dresses with yellow ribbons on their skirts. Obviously, prostitutes from the city. The villagers turned up their noses. There was no brothel in the village, but the two barmaids in the tavern disappeared with guests for some coins in their rooms.

The car was already expected at the castle. Several men streamed in and unloaded it, helping the girls down who were given a room in the keep. They should be available for the knights, not for the servants. The idea had come to Einar, who was fed up with the frightened village girls. He wanted an experienced woman in bed. The older of the whores, Gerhildis, was immediately led aside by him and laid over a beam in the barn. Einar raised her skirt, exposed his limb and rammed it into her vagina from behind. He ran up and grunted loudly until Gerhildis screamed. Finally, he came inside her with a triumphant cry. He straightened his pants, slapped her on the ass and disappeared.

In the evening the men sat by torchlight in the hall and ate a true feast with various roasts, bread and vegetables, raw and cooked. In addition to this, a lot of wine flowed, so that the atmosphere was soon very lively. The men told of their experiences. The girls sat on the laps of Aegir and Bernulf and were fed pieces of roast by the men. The others occasionally grabbed the passing maids and tried to hug and kiss them. One of the men sang a song that was interrupted by the screeching of the maidservants. Kurgan sat at the head of the table. He drank from a silver cup, gift of a clan lord, and watched the scene. He had been served the best piece of roast. Otherwise he did not take part in the conversations, but was deep in thought.

None of the men knew he was an immortal. They admired his martial arts and his invulnerability. From the steppes of Russia to here - yes, he had come a long way. Now he was count, ruled over large estates and had numerous subjects. He watched as Aegir stood up and disappeared with the younger whore, Gaudina, followed by the roaring and cheering cries of those present. "Come on, give her a good one! Show her what a Viking's got between his legs!

The whores weren't to Kurgan's taste. He preferred blonde women, but they didn't exist in these latitudes because they were brown- or black-haired. He decided tomorrow to ride into the village and see what was right and then go hunting to replenish the meat supplies.

"Einar! Wido! Arnulf! We'll ride to the village tomorrow. The taxes are due soon. I want to see what happened there over winter. Bernulf, you ride to the neighbouring villages and Brandolf too. Aegir, if he recovers from his fuck, can accompany you."

"Yes, sir. I have to see the blacksmith anyway. My sword has become nicked," Wido shouted.

The next morning the group set off. Kurgan rode in the front, dressed in black leather trousers and black shirt with black leather overlay, the long black hair open and without helmet, the sword girded at his side.

Einar rode right behind him. He wore a fur vest over his white shirt and black leather trousers. His blonde hair was tied into a plait, so you could see the missing ear. The brown-haired Wido also wore his hair open, but only up to his shoulder. He wore dark brown leather trousers, a light brown shirt and also a leather jacket over it. Arnulf finally had short hair, light brown with grey strands. He was also dressed in black, like his master. None of the men wore helmets. Nevertheless everyone had a weapon at his side: Kurgan his huge sword, Einar the war axe, Wido a short sword and Arnulf a morning star. They also took guns for the hunt: Spears and skewers.

They rode to the village square, directly in front of Konrad the merchant's house. He had already seen the count coming from afar and ran out nervously to greet him with a trembling voice: "Count von Krohn, what honor. What brings you to us?"

"The taxes are due soon. I hope there were no problems during my absence?" Kurgan looked at the man with his piercing eyes sternly.

"N-no sir, four villagers have died, but there have been no attacks from neighboring knights. The taxes will be paid on time..."

"Good! Send me some men from the village to the castle. The weirs must be repaired."

"Of course, sir!" Konrad bowed deep before Kurgan.

The servants of the house had hidden fearfully and now peered out from behind the windows. Just as Konrad was about to return to the house, a young woman came running down the stairs. It was Konrad's stepdaughter Jakomina who was visiting from the monastery.

"Stepfather, have you seen Gebhard? He was supposed to help me..." Jakomina remained rooted when she became aware of the knight.

Konrad jerked together and snarled at her: "Go back to the house immediately, stupid girl! You shouldn't be here!"

The young woman turned around and ran back into the house. Konrad turned to Kurgan and was aware of the malicious smile that Kurgan's face was spreading at the sight of the woman. He swore to punish the girl for her disobedience at the first opportunity.

Kurgan looked at Konrad: "See you soon", turned his horse around and rode with his men to the village tavern. When they arrived there, they brought the horses to the stable and went to the inn. The landlord Gosbert immediately expelled some men from the largest table, so that Kurgan could take a seat there. Immediately one of the bar girls brought large mugs of beer, while Kurgan ordered Gosbert to the table. Gosbert was his village informer. He always knew everything and informed the count about all events during his absence.

"... and then there's a new healer here."

"Like this?" Kurgan seemed disinterested. What did he care about an old herb woman?

"She even speaks Latin. "You might meet her in the woods where she goes to collect her herbs."

"Don't you have anything better to tell me? What kind of girl is she in Konrad's house?"

"This is Jakomina, Konrad's stepdaughter. She's raised in the monastery. Konrad wants to wed her, but he can't find a suitable suitor. She has a proper dowry from her late father. She's probably taking the veil. She's just visiting."

"Of course she is." So Gosbert was dismissed.

After they finished their beer, the group left. The men spread out in the woods in search of game. Kurgan hunted down a young deer, tied him to his horse, climbed up and rode on. He rode deeper into the forest so that his men could no longer see him. When he arrived at a small stream, he got down and watered his horse. From the corner of his eye he saw a movement on the other side of the stream. He drew his sword and stood motionless. An enemy? Here in his woods?

A slender figure, completely covered by a dark green cape with hood, appeared between the trees, only to disappear again immediately.

Gwynna, despite Brother Erland's warning, had gone alone into the forest to search for the medicinal herbs in Cedric's book. In the meantime she had found a few that she wanted to plant in the ground next to her hut. One of the herbs grew mainly near water. She looked strained on the ground, only the snorting of a horse made her look up. There, on the other side of the stream, stood the count, at least she assumed it was him. A giant with long black hair, looking in her direction and drawing his sword. Gwynna immediately turned around and disappeared between the trees. Her heart was racing and she was running like the devil was after her. Fortunately, she was completely covered by her cape, so Kurgan hadn't been able to see her face. After she realized that he was not following her, she stopped at a big tree and took a breath. She had a violent stitch. "Oh, God, that was close!" she thought. "He almost saw me. Only now did she realize that she had lost the bag of medicinal plants. "Shit, shit, shit! Now she could start all over again.

Gwynna looked quickly around. No trace of the count, so she pushed the hood to the back, which rather impaired her vision, and ran back to the village. She'd have to come back later and find the bag.

Despite his enormous size, Kurgan was able to move almost silently. He saw the figure he was persecuting run away in a blowing cape. A brown bag fell out of her hand and he picked it up. There were various plants in it. So this must have been the healer Gosbert was talking about. 'For an old herb woman, quick on her feet,' Kurgan thought. He was all the more surprised when the figure pushed her hood backwards revealing a mass of blonde hair, he'd have to take a closer look at that healer.

Kurgan broke off pursuit when Gwynna ran for the village. He'd have plenty of time for that. He put his sword back in his sheath and marched to his grazing horse. He got on his horse and rode back to the castle, where his men were already waiting for him.

Looking back, he thought, 'Yes, the village is getting interesting.'


	12. Chapter 12

Gwynna returned to the forest the next day to look for the bag, but couldn't find it anywhere. If HE had found it ? Gwynna shivered at the thought that the count would now know that there was a new healer. All too well she remembered his penetrating gaze at her first encounter. For the time being she would rather stay away from the forest and follow Brother Erlands advice. She went back to the village with unjust things. Here, Brother Erland, who had just come from a visit to the sick, ran into her. He looked at her blamefully. "You weren't in the woods, were you, my child? Didn't I tell you that was dangerous? Do you want to end up like your uncle?"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm not going alone anymore." Gwynna bowed her head guiltily. She preferred to keep the encounter with the count to herself.

"Oh yes, did I actually tell you that the village has to pay taxes to the count ? Next week he will appear here with the tax collector and everyone should have something ready for it. Finally he protects us from marauding gangs, robber barons and other dangerous rabble.

Gwynna looked at Brother Erland and said, "But I don't have anything. What am I supposed to give?"

"No coins?" "No." "Hmmmm... well, then maybe the carpets you woven? That might do it. Or you could do one more."

"If that works, I'll have to ask Absildis for yarn."

"Do that, she'll probably give you something."

"And where does all this take place? Do I have to appear in person?" Gwynna was anything but enthusiastic about the idea of facing the count.

"In our fairground. It's a little out north. You don't know it yet, but that's where we celebrate our parties and weddings. There'll be a feast after the presentation of goods. And unfortunately, you must appear in person. But don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to you. I'm a sidekick and I monitor everything."

"Well, then I must hurry to finish the carpet, Brother Erland. Good day!"

So she spent the next few days making a carpet in the rickety loom as best as she could. She was not with the thing, she thought nevertheless constantly of the giant, which she had met in the forest. And she was supposed to face him eye to eye? And should she really believe Brother Erland that nothing would happen to her? Maybe not in the square, but in a dark corner?

The villagers decorated the fairground, the ground of which was covered with stones. Around the square there was a wooden area for which the women and girls had woven a garland of flowers. On the right side there was a wooden grandstand where the count, his tax collector and Brother Erland would sit. When the day of the donation arrived, a large chair upholstered with velvet was brought from Konrad's house as well as two simpler wooden chairs for the assessors.

A few metres next to the fairground there was a fireplace where the butcher roasted two suckling pigs on a spit. Besides there was a stand from the baker with fresh bread and fine white flour cakes. In addition, numerous beer barrels were rolled up and set up by the innkeeper. Around noon all villagers were gathered when a loud horn signal announced the approaching count.

Kurgan rode his horse, all dressed in black, his hair tied to a ponytail, behind him the two northmen and two empty wooden carts, which were later to be filled with goods. Kurgan wore black leather trousers, knee-high riding boots, a black shirt and a fur throw over it. On his belt, instead of the broadsword, there hung a large dagger with a silver sheath and precious gems on the knob.

In front of the fairground he got off his horse and walked towards the grandstand. There he sat on the throne-like chair. Einar and Aegir lined up behind him. Then Rantgar, Kurgan's tax collector, a small scrawny male with thinning grey hair, swelling eyes and furry teeth also appeared. Brother Erland joined the band as third. When everyone had taken their seats, a few women came and prepared a cloth in front of the tribune on which the objects were to be placed. Konrad was the first as village elder. He greeted Kurgan, who boredly let his eyes wander and had his taxes brought in. A bag of silver coins, several bales of fine cloth, four large barrels of wine and a thin gold chain landed on the cloth and were entered into a parchment roll by Rantgar.

Little by little it was the turn of all the inhabitants. First always those who had to pay more and then those who could contribute little. The blacksmith brought three new swords and a hunting spike and the baker four sacks of finely sifted flour and large loaf of rye bread. The mountain on the cloth grew and grew. Large cheese wheels, sausages, clay jugs and cups, cages with chickens and geese, larger animals such as pigs and sheep were immediately taken away and it was Gwynna's turn to watch the events off the beaten track.

"Next comes the healer Gwendolyn!" Rantgar shouted out loud. Gwynna took her three carpets and made her way through the crowd. She was still wearing her wide cape, which largely covered her body, but had turned the hood back. Her long blonde hair fell open over her back. Since she wasn't married, she didn't have to wear a hood.

Gwynna stepped in front of the grandstand, curtseyed briefly with her eyes lowered and laid the carpets on the cloth with the other things. Then she looked up and froze when she saw Kurgan's gaze. He, who had hardly listened before, now faced the young woman he had seen in the forest from afar. His gaze became more intense and the corners of his mouth rose to a slight smile as he looked at her from top to bottom.

Gwynna turned fiery red when Kurgan took his eyes off her. She looked helplessly over to Brother Erland, who had also observed Kurgan's gaze. He looked at Rantgar - this one nodded and wrote Gwynnas charge into the role. So she was released and left as soon as possible. Kurgan looked after her and then made a gesture towards Einar, who bent over to his master.

"That one, the healer. I want her in my bed tonight. Make sure she is brought to the castle later, he said quietly."

"Yes, sir. I bring her to you," Einar whispered back, straightened up with a broad grin on his face and thought to himself, "My little dove, you are still being fucked today! "Maybe he could take her if Kurgan got fed up with her. Even at that thought he got an erection. He had to visit one of the whores later.

Gwynna felt Kurgan's gaze resting on her for a long time when she was already back in her hut. Therefore she did not notice that Konrad filled wine into a silver cup at the beginning of the feast and presented it to Kurgan. Only when he had made a deep gulp out of it could the celebration begin. People flocked to the finished suckling pigs, which smelled appetising. The baker cut the loaf of bread apart and distributed the pieces. The beer was generously served. Kurgan stood up, nodded to Einar and left the party together with Aegir.

Konrad stood at the edge of the square and watched the goings-on as his wife, son and stepdaughter approached him. The innkeeper had organized a few musicians who now played to the dance and some young men went with their loved ones on the square and waved them enthusiastically around in circles. One of the boys approached Jakomina and asked her to dance. Konrad sent him away harshly. As if one of the rascals was worthy enough to dance with his stepdaughter! He would get her a wealthy merchant from the city to be her husband. Jakomina sulked until Gebhard pulled her onto the dance floor.

Einar approached Konrad. He had thought of something and needed the village elder to do it.

"Konrad, the Lord wants the healer in his bed. The best thing to do is invite her to you, then I can catch her."

"You can also just go into her hut and take her with you. What do I have to do with this?"

"You want to please the Lord, don't you? And if you're okay with that as a village elder, there won't be any problems. Do what I tell you!"

"Konrad nodded. "All right, then. I'll get her and you take her with you."

Einar nodded and disappeared into the turmoil.

"Absildis had stood silently beside her husband the whole time. Now she could no longer hold on to herself. "Are you insane? How can you do that? Surrender an innocent girl to this beast?"

Konrad looked at her angrily: "Shut your mouth, woman. You don't have to doubt my decisions. Innocent! This wanderer! She may be honored if the Count wants her in his bed. And now I don't want to hear any more about it,' he hissed at her and turned away to scare Gebhard and Jakomina off the dance floor.

Absildis looked stunned after her husband. She would in any case prevent Einar from getting Gwendolyn. So she set off for Gwynna's hut.

There she found Gwynna sitting at the table with Brother Erland. Both were engrossed in conversation when Absildis entered.

"Gwendolyn, you must leave. Einar is going to take you to the count. He told my husband to invite Gwynna,so can can catch her easily."

Gwynna jumped up. "What? For Christ's sake!"

Brother Erland looked at Absildis in shock. "Konrad has agreed to lure Gwendolyn into a trap?"

"Absildis bowed his head. "Yes, I'm sorry. He couldn't be dissuaded. He's way too scared of the Viking. And he sees Gwendolyn as a threat because Gebhard wants to court her."

"But where to? In Cedric's cabin in the woods?" Gwynna was running excitedly back and forth.

"No," said Brother Erland. "better the Hermit's Cave. Further away, but the Count doesn't know it. A hundred years ago a hermit lived there, hence the name," he added explaining.

"We will organize a cart and provisions so that Gwendolyn can survive the first few days. And wood for a fire," Absildis said. "Quick, we must hurry!" she shouted. Brother Erland nodded and took Absildis' arm and led her out of the hut.

Two hours later a cart, pulled by a donkey, rumbled along the way towards the mountains. On the coach box sat the monk and Gwynna. In the cart stood a large willow basket with provisions and Gwynna's few belongings.

They were hardly out of sight when Konrad came to Gwynna's cabin and knocked on the door. When no reaction came, he hammered his fist against the door. Nothing again. In Konrad the idea germinated that she had left and that his wife had something to do with it. He hadn't missed her aversion to the plan. Snorting with rage, he ran back home. He found Absildis in her chamber on the ground floor and stormed towards her.

"Where's the girl, woman? Tell me or you'll be in bad shape," he yelled at her and ripped Absildis up her arm.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" Absildis screamed in pain.

"WHERE'S THE HARLOT?" Konrad was beside himself. "Do you know what it means to betray the lord? Do you know that?" Konrad shook her.

"And do you know what it means not to follow your husband?" "You -!" With this Konrad took a swing and hit his wife in the face with full force.

Absildis fell to the ground whimpering. Konrad didn't pay any attention to her.

"Oh God, what am I going to do? What is it? Einar could show up at any moment and if he can't find the girl!"

Loudly lamenting, he ran out of the chamber into his office. There was an iron cassette on the desk. Konrad opened it and took out a small leather bag. He poured the contents onto the table. They were gold coins of different origins and worth a small fortune. He had to buy his way out. Maybe that gave him time to look for Gwendolyn.

"Lord? The Northman is here. He wants to talk to you," Gret's voice sounded behind the heavy wooden door.

"I am coming" called Konrad and hastily collected the gold coins again, sucked in the air once more and set off to greet Einar.

He stood in the now empty chamber. Absildis had retreated to her first floor chambers after her husband's tantrum and cooled her burning cheek with a rag.

Einar waited impatiently when Konrad entered the room. "Well? Where's the girl?"

Konrad swallowed. "She... she's gone. I don't know where to. ... He didn't get any further, for Einar had grabbed him by the throat and pushed him towards the wall, where he lifted him easily and closed the throat of the wheezing man. Einar's face was turned into an evil grimace.

"What do you think, worm? Do you disobey the lords' wishes? Did you help her escape? You want her for you!"

And with that he increased his pressure around Konrad's neck.

"Please Lord, mercy," cawed Konrad. Einar dropped him like a wet sack of potatoes.

"I have something for you. As an apology." With his trembling fingers he pulled out the bag and held it out to Einar.

He took the bag, looked inside and puffed. "Look what treasures you have in the house..." "That's all I've got!"

Just when Konrad wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that Einar obviously accepted the gold, his son Gebhard stormed into the room, followed by his stepdaughter Jakomina. She remained as if rooted when she became aware of the Viking.

"Is it true that Gwendolyn has disappeared?" Gebhard shouted angrily. He fell silent when he saw Einar.

An evil smile spread over Einar's face.

"I see you have more treasures here!"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Well, the girl. She can entertain the lord until we find the healer." And so he came up to Jacomina and grabbed her roughly by the arm. Then he urged the girl, who fiercely defended herself and screamed, out the door and threw her face down on his horse.

Konrad and Gebhard ran after him. Konrad yelled at Einar: "Not her! Not my stepdaughter! Please sir! What do you want for her? Please! Release her!"

But Einar just laughed, swung on his horse and galloped into the night with Jakomina.


	13. Chapter 13

The iron gate of the drawbridge rose squeaking as Einar rode with his prey into the castle courtyard. Jakomina was almost unconscious when they arrived. Einar got off the horse and pulled her down. If he hadn't held her down, she'd have fallen to the ground. He gave his horse to a stable boy and dragged the girl into the keep and up to the count's chamber. Kurgan sat alone in front of the crackling open fire and drank wine from a large cup. His muscular upper body was naked, his black hair fell open over his back and his legs rested on a stool. He thought of the young woman Einar would bring him, and imagined her naked body under his. He felt his cock getting hard.

Jakomina could not defend herself against Einar's steel grip. A whimper escaped her throat as he pushed her up the stairs. Arriving at Kurgan's chamber, he briefly hammered against the door.

"Enter!" Kurgan's deep voice sounded from within. Einar opened the door and pushed the girl in, who immediately fell to the ground, staggering.

"Forgive me, Lord!" Einar shouted. "The other one is gone, we will look for her, but even the coward Konrad did not want to reveal where the healer is. That's why I took his stepdaughter. A pretty thing too!"

He pulled Jakomina up by the arm and grabbed her chin from behind to hold her head up.

"Do you see? Not bad, huh? A little pastime..."

Kurgan looked at Einar. His facial expression darkened. Finally he got up and stepped in front of the girl who was trembling with fear and couldn't even look him in the eye.

"What should I do with her ? She'll drop dead as soon as I touch her. Find me the healer. She can't be that far."

Einar let go of the girl and stepped back. "I'll send a search party first thing tomorrow, sir."

Kurgan nodded, attacked the girl roughly by the chin and raised her face to his: "Are you still a virgin, girl?"

Jakomina nodded. "Well," Kurgan said and let his gaze wander into her décolleté. She was too skinny for his taste. He stroked her breast with one hand and Jakomina shivered. Suddenly his huge hands grabbed the neckline of her dress and with a jerk the fabric tore, so that the dress fell from her shoulders and she stood only in her shirt in front of Kurgan.

Einar, who was still standing behind her, licked his lips. Kurgan looked at her intensely. Jakomina closed her eyes, as she knew that she would not escape rape. A nasty smile played around Kurgan's mouth. But then he turned away and said to Einar, "Take her to the dungeon and guard her well."

EInar nodded, opened the door of the chamber and shouted down: "Sigurd, Irminulf! Come up here! Now!"

The two men called appeared in the door.

"Take the dove to the dungeon. The Lord will deal with her later!"

The men nodded, grabbed Jakomina and dragged her out of the room.

When she was gone, Kurgan sat down in front of the fireplace again. Einar was surprised. By now, at the latest, he had expected the girl to lie under his master. He bent down and picked up the shredded dress. "What do you want me to do with it?"

Kurgan looked at him: "You said that Konrad probably knows the whereabouts of the healer. What would loosen his tongue more than the sight of the torn dress of his stepdaughter? He wants to marry her profitably, and he can only do that if she is still a virgin."

"That makes her a good bargaining chip!" Einar exclaimed. "Instead of us looking for her for weeks, he can do the work for us! Good plan. I'll bring him the dress tomorrow. Oh, yes..." Einar pulled out the leather bag with the gold coins. "He gave it to me as an excuse."

Kurgan waved off. He had enough gold. "Keep it." Einar bowed and left the chamber. He regretted that he could not have the girl today, but his opportunity would still come. Now he went to see the whores. With gold in his pockets, they'd be especially nice to him...

The next morning Einar rode as discussed to the village elder. Gret opened the door to him and immediately he heard loud sobs from the ladies' room. Absildis sat at the table and wept unrestrained for her daughter, who she thought had already been murdered in a ditch. Konrad sat helplessly beside her. He cooked internally with rage, because in his opinion, Gwynna was to blame for everything. "You see, this is what happens when you help this harlot. She's nothing but trouble, just like her uncle!"

Einar entered and they both looked up in horror. The blonde giant looked contemptuously at Konrad. "You didn't expect to see me again so soon, did you?"

"What do you want? You took everything from us! Bring Jakomina back to us!"

"That's why I'm here. I got something for you." And Einar threw the girl's torn dress onto the table.

Absildis screamed when she saw the shredded remains. Her biggest nightmare had come true: her daughter was dishonoured and probably already dead.

Konrad got hold of himself first. "What has he done with Jakomina? Did he dishonor her? Is she dead?"

"Not yet. But that depends on how well you cooperate."

Konrad looked at him in amazement. "What do you mean? Haven't I already given you money?"

"He wants the healer. In exchange for your stepdaughter. You know where she is, don't you?"

Konrad looked at him desperately: "No, I swear by all the saints, I do not know! I told you already!"

Einar stepped closer to the table. "But I don't believe you. You know something, and if you don't, you're gonna find someone who does. Otherwise, your stepdaughter won't be under only one man." He grinned diabolically.

"I-I will only help you if you swear to me that she is untouched." Konrad stood up from his seat. After all, the girl had no value for him after being raped.

"Don't worry about her. Her virginity hasn't been touched yet. I give you the word of a Viking. Is that enough?"

Of course, Sir Einar."

"So we're in business. You tell me where I can find the healer and you get your precious stepdaughter back immediately."

Konrad looked at Absildis clutching her daughter's dress. "Woman, go upstairs. These are conversations between men. Not for women's ears!"

He waited until she had closed the door behind her and her sobbing could only be heard muffled. "Have you looked in Cedric's cabin in the woods yet? She could have been hiding there."

"Do you think we're stupid ? Bernulf was already there. She's not there. But tell me: Your wife likes the healer, maybe she knows where Gwendolyn is ? Did you ask her?

Konrad kneaded his hands. "Yeah, sure. But she says she has no idea."

"And do you believe her?" "No, but I could imagine the priest knowing the hiding place, too."

"Brother Erland ? Very well. Then I'll pay him a visit..."

"No, Sir Einar, let me do that. If he knows where she is, he would warn her immediately, but if I can make him believe that I care about the welfare of the woman, he might reveal himself. Then I'll let you know immediately."

"Agreed. But if you fail, I'll take the little monk. One or two hours on the rack, and everyone confesses."

Einar went to the door. Then he turned around again. "Oh yes, and should I find out that you are betraying us, you will suffer a worse fate than your stepdaughter. I swear to you!" Einar slammed the door behind him and left the house. He was sure Kurgan's plan would work.

In the chamber Konrad sank back to his chair exhausted. He was sure Absildis knew where the wench was. But he'd probably have to beat her half to death to get anything out of her. Therefore he wanted to speak to Brother Erland first.

Konrad met the monk at the cemetery, where he laid fresh flowers on the grave of his predecessor. He forced himself to smile at the monk friendly. He would have liked to have trimmed him with a riding whip.

"God be with you, Brother Erland! How are you? How did you like the feast?"

Erland looked at the village elder in surprise. "Thank you for asking. Greetings to you too, Konrad! Can I serve you with something?"

"Well, brother, I have a delicate matter to discuss with you. But not here."

"Let's go to the sacristy." Erland went ahead and Konrad trotted after him. Inside, the monk offered him a chair. "Well?"

"It's about my son, brother," Konrad began, "as you know, he has a crush on the girl Gwendolyn and wants to marry her."

"I'm aware of that. "And you are against that you have manifested more than once."

"Well, I've been thinking. We live very isolated here, our village has nothing to offer a young lady from the city and, unlike Jakomina, Gebhard's wife would be forced to live here. And what young woman would want that? My son, although well-off, would have little chance of making a good match. Absildis only married me because she was already widowed and her chances of finding a suitable husband were not too good."

Erland listened attentively to Konrad's remarks. What was the village elder up to? Did he want to suggest that Gwendolyn was a suitable woman for Gebhard after all?

"In a nutshell, we would have the choice between a socially minor game for Gebhard or we could consider Gwendolyn. At least she's a scholar and even speaks Latin. And Gebhard loves her."

"Forgive me, Konrad, if I speak frankly," Erland replied. "Since when do you care about Gebhard's feelings? You are a businessman and Gwendolyn has no dowry. Her knowledge as a healer can hardly be of interest to you."

"And that's where you're wrong. On my travels I have always had contact with pharmacists who have asked me about one or the other medicinal plant. Since this is foreign territory for me and I can hardly distinguish green leaves from each other, Gwendolyn's knowledge would be very important for me. If she could advise me as to which plants are often needed, then I could expand my business to the trade in medicinal plants."

"I understand. So you wants me to audition for Gebhard? Is that what you want?"

"Brother Erland, why are you so skeptical? As a man of the Church, you should promote the Christian marriage covenant. A single woman is easy prey sooner or later. You can see what happened. I hardly believe that as Gebhard's wife she would have to fear the count or even flee. Don't you think? Konrad looked at the priest expectantly. He congratulated himself on his reasoning. And he was spot on.

"Of course, it would be best for Gwendolyn to get married. It would have to happen as quickly as possible, however, before the count could get his hands on her." Brother Erland rubbed his chin. How could he send Gwendolyn the news of her imminent marriage? He could not leave today because the baker had announced his confession and he was inclined to detailed reports of even the smallest sins.

"I'm afraid, Konrad, this will have to wait. I can't leave here. The duties of a priest, you know."

"Well, then let me go. I've got a fast horse. All you have to do is tell me where to find her." Erland hesitated. Should he really reveal Gwendolyn's whereabouts? But Konrad offered him just the only way out that he saw for Gwendolyn: to become a wife. Erland had already thought of the blacksmith, who was also interested in her, but Gebhard would be a better choice for her. He would make a loving husband, Erland was convinced of that. And she couldn't stay in the cave forever. Sooner or later, the count's men would find her.

"All right, but swear to me in the Bible that you will not harm any hair." "But brother! I would never do that. I swear by the scriptures that I will not touch her. "Konrad was a very affable man. Inside, he triumphed. Soon the whore would belong to the count and he would get his stepdaughter back.

"Gwendolyn hides in the hermit's cave. You know where that is?"

"Yes, of course. I used to go there with my father a lot."

"Well, then ride along and take some more provisions. Give my regards."

"I will. Gebhard will be very happy. " Konrad stood up, said goodbye to the priest and disappeared. Erland was left with a bad feeling.

Arriving at the house, Konrad immediately sent one of his servants to the castle to inform them about Gwendolyn's hiding place. Then he had Gret prepare a small basket of provisions and waited until she was out of sight. Then he took the wine bottle that was in the basket, opened the cork and filled a white powder into the bottle. Then he locked it again. He wanted to make sure Gwendolyn wouldn't get away from him. With a contented smile he got on his horse and galloped out of the village towards the mountains.


	14. Chapter 14

During his ride Konrad wondered how he could confront Gwynna without her running away immediately. She had to trust him so much that she drank the wine he had brought with him and Kurgan's men would have an easy time. She probably already knew that he had tried to lure her into a trap. That wouldn't make it any easier for him. He also had to fear that Brother Erland might have doubts about his sudden care for Gwynna and was already on his way to warn her. Therefore he gave the horse the whip and drove it into a fast gallop. The mountains were a good hour and a half away from the village, but Konrad made it in an hour. He got off his horse and unbuckled the strap holding the basket as well. He knew this area very well, so it was easy for him to find the cave.

As he approached, he saw a fire burning at the entrance to the cave. A small pot simmered over the fireplace. There was no one to see. Konrad approached. "Gwendolyn?!" he shouted loudly and waited at a distance from the entrance for someone to answer.

Gwynna had heard a voice outside. That wasn't Brother Erland, was it? But who else but him and Absildis knew where she was? She took a small knife as a precaution and walked slowly to the exit.

In fact, there stood the person whom she never expected and whose sight was absolutely unwelcome to her: Konrad.

She looked at him surprised and reserved: "What do YOU want here? How do you know I'm here?" Her hand clasped the knife tighter. This man couldn't be trusted.

Konrad tried to get a friendly smile. He moved one step towards Gwynna, which she answered backwards with one step. "So," he thought to himself, "so the little bitch knew. He assumed that a forward flight was the best solution. He put the basket on the floor and raised his hand soothingly: "You don't have to be afraid of me, Gwendolyn. I bring greetings from Brother Erland, because he has told me where I can find you. I also wanted to apologize and bring food for you to prove my goodwill." He pointed to the basket.

Gwynna didn't move a millimeter. "Apologize for what?" she asked suspiciously.

"I suppose your escape has to do with the fact that the count has chosen you for his bed and his vassal should pick you up from me?" Konrad replied and looked at her openly. He risked everything with it if she didn't know the truth.

"You were going to say that you were going to lure me into a trap so that the Count's men would have an easy time?"

Konrad flinched. These words could only be from his wife. He'd let her pay for it the next chance he gets.

"Well, I, uh, I wouldn't call it a trap..."

"But?"

"We've been threatened, Gwendolyn. The count's men have kidnapped my stepdaughter so I can play. It was not my wish, but I cannot allow anything to be done to my Jakomina". Konrad gave his voice a whiny sound. He tried to appeal to her compassion.

"Jakomina was kidnapped ? How terrible!" Gwynna shook her head in horror. Maybe she shouldn't have run away after all? She did not want to be the reason that another girl in the castle experienced who knows what.

"I suppose you want to tell me to come back and take Jakominas place?"

Konrad looked at her surprised. That went better than he thought. "I can't ask that of you. But that's not why I came. I wanted to make you a suggestion, but first, take the basket and see what I have brought you all the fine things." He took up the basket with it and held it out to the hesitant woman.

Finally Gwynna stepped forward one step, the knife always in her hand, and grabbed the basket. After she had taken it, Konrad turned away and sat down on one of the large stones that lay in front of the cave.

Gwynna pulled the cloth from the basket. Next to a bottle of wine there was a whole loaf of bread, a hard cheese and a smoked sausage, as well as five apples in it. "I thank you for the food, Konrad," Gwynna said politely. "But why did Brother Erland not come, but sent you?"

"He had to hear confessions. Besides, my horse is a lot faster than his lame donkey. And, like I said, I wanted to talk to you about something." Gwynna went back to the cave and put the basket on the floor. Then she went back to Konrad and stopped in front of him. "And that would be?"

Konrad pointed with a gesture to one of the stones. "Why don't you sit down?" At first the young woman hesitated, but then she looked for a stone that was a little away from Konrad's seat.

Konrad seemed to think about how to put it. "Hmmmm..." "So?"

"I know that my son is in love with you and would like to marry you." He waited for Gwynna's reaction.

"And you also know that I'm not interested. He's way too young for me. Besides, I don't love him."

"But Gwendolyn, you can't stay in this cave forever. Sooner or later you must return to the village and I can assure you that the count's anger at you will be immense. He will not rest until you lie before him in the dust."

Gwynna closed her eyes. "What good will a marriage with your son do me if the Count wants revenge on me anyway?"

"Well, the count may be a despot, but there are rules for him too. He's never made a mistake about a married woman before." "That would be your only protection: a marriage."

Konrad leaned back contentedly and embraced a knee with his hands. "Of course, you can marry the toothless blacksmith. He'd be interested, too. But you don't have more choice. So think it over."

Gwynna had to swallow hard. Konrad's remarks were understandable. She wasn't a man like Uncle Cedric. She probably couldn't live permanently as a woman alone. They were misogynistic times. Women were either whores or saints. There was nothing in between. When she thought of the blacksmith and his covetous looks, her disgust came up. That man was supposed to touch her? Never! Her counterpart looked at the emotions on Gwynna's face. "Have you made up your mind?"

"Why do you suddenly accept that Gebhard wants to marry me? I don't have a dowry, you know that!"

"There are other things than money, my child," Konrad replied patronizingly. "You have knowledge and can help me build up my medicinal plant business."

Gwynna sighed. "I can't make up my mind so quickly. I need to rethink this and talk to Brother Erland."

"He's of the same opinion." "I don't think so. He never mentioned anything like that."

Konrad stretched his upper body and said: "Well, then talk to him. I'll ride right back and tell him you're expecting him. Maybe tomorrow?" Gwynna nodded.

Suddenly Konrad began to cough. "My throat is so dry. I would like to have a glass of wine with you and perhaps toast my future daughter-in-law."

Gwynna got up. "I've got some water, too." "Wine is more appropriate, don't you think?"

"Here you go." She got up and went into the cave and came back a short time later with the bottle and two cups. She gave the bottle to Konrad, who opened it with a jerk and a devious smile on his lips. Then he poured wine into both cups and handed it back to Gwynna. "Here, drink with me! To our alliance - perhaps," he added.

He lifted the cup to his lips and pretended to take a gulp.

Gwynna watched him and finally did it after him. The wine tasted stern, different than she was used to it.

"What kind of wine is this?"

Konrad looked at her and said, "Oh, he's from one of my trips to Tyrol."

Gwynna took another little sip. She didn't like the wine, but she didn't want to be rude. She saw Konrad staring at her. "What is it? Why are you staring?" "Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about how much Gebhard would be happy to get such an appetizing wife. A stroke of luck for him!" He licked his tongue over his lips as he looked at her. Gwynna was not wearing a cape and her curves were clearly visible under the dress.

"I think it's better if you ride back now," Gwynna said for sure and turned away. Konrad's eyes burned holes in her back. Not for long... The powder worked fast and even faster in combination with alcohol. The Italians were excellent poisoners and he had built up a considerable supply of powders.

Finally he got up and said goodbye. He went a few yards away and waited.

Gwynna saw him leave, but suddenly she began to waver. Everything revolved around her. Her vision blurred and she got nauseous. She looked at Konrad. "Wh-what did you do?" Then she turned black before her eyes. But before she fell to the ground, she saw a huge shadow over her. Einar caught her. Her last thought was: 'Konrad betrayed me again', before she was overwhelmed by the fainting.

Einar picked up the unconscious woman and threw her over his shoulder.

"Good work, Konrad. You're a good man, aren't you?"

Konrad smiled viciously. "A sleeping potion. You shouldn't have any trouble getting her to the castle. So when do I get Jakomina back?"

"If it suits the count, Konrad. Don't be so impatient." Einar laughed and marched down the narrow path with his light prey, without even paying tribute to Konrad.

'What a weakling', Einar thought, 'must stun a woman to make her submissive.'

Konrad was anything but enthusiastic when he heard Einar's words. But he didn't dare to provoke the Viking. So he waited a while until Einar had ridden away and then swung himself onto his horse as well. At least he got rid of that whore. Gebhard wouldn't want her once the Count had used her. He imagined Kurgan climbing the girl and getting an erection. If she survived and came back, he'd fuck her, too. He grinned diabolically.


	15. Chapter 15

When Konrad arrived home satisfied, he immediately went to his wife, who hadn't left her room since her daughter was kidnapped and was lying on the bed when he arrived. Wordlessly, he tore his doublet off and threw himself at Absildis who, lying with their eyes closed, had not seen his attack coming. She screamed as Konrad threw himself on her and tore her arms up with her hands and fixed her over her head with one hand while he reached down with the other hand and opened his pants. With his knees he pushed the screaming woman's legs apart. Absildis fought hard. She finally succeeded in freeing one hand and slapping Konrad in the face. "You damn woman!" he roared, pulled out and hit back with full force, so that Absildis' head flew to the side. She fainted when Konrad pushed her skirt up and pushed into her soft flesh with force. "Take this, you whore!" he wheezed out loud and pushed again. His thoughts were with a young blonde woman who would soon be Kurgan's whore. Konrad increased the pace by pushing into her until he came to orgasm moaning loudly and poured his seed into her. Then he collapsed on the unconscious woman.

At the same time Einar arrived at the castle with his prey. When he rode into the yard, he heard loud clanging weapons. Kurgan stood in the middle of the courtyard, his naked torso covered in sweat, as he fought a duel with Aegir. The smaller Aegir wore a white shirt that stuck to his body and brown leather trousers in black boots and tried to compete with the stronger one. One could see, however, that he was about to collapse, for he was already swaying in a standing position and could hardly hold his sword. Kurgan's blue eyes flashed triumphantly as one mighty blow struck after another Aegir's shield. Although Aegir was very agile, he could not compete with Kurgan in endurance. One last blow that Aegir couldn't parry, then the shield fell out of his hand. Kurgan smote Aegir's sword and put his sword at his throat. "There can be only one, Aegir!" he shouted out loud and laughed booming. Aegir then dropped his sword and raised his hand as a sign of his defeat. "You have won, my lord. I commend myself to your mercy." Kurgan laughed even louder and lowered his sword. Then he hit the blonde Viking on the back and shoved his value into the scabbard.

Einar had meanwhile gotten off the horse and had waved two men to carry Gwynna from the horse towards the keep. He stepped up to Kurgan, who wiped his sweat with a cloth. "Lord, I have brought you the girl. Konrad managed to sedate her with a sleeping potion. Where will the men take her?" Kurgan looked at the young woman. "To my bedchamber, of course. " Then he closed his eyes. " Why did Konrad give her a sleeping potion? Was he afraid you couldn't handle her, Einar?"

Einar shook his head and grinned:" No, he was more like himself. Afraid the pigeon's going through his rags again. So what do we do with the girl in the dungeon now? Konrad wants her back."

Kurgan gave it some thought. "I don't care about the girl. Do what you want with her." Then he turned away and also stomped to the entrance of the keep. Einar shouted after him, "Everything?" "Everything!" came the answer.

Einar grinned contentedly. Then the little one would leave some feathers before her stepfather would get her back.

Jakomina crouched on a straw sack in the corner of the dungeon. The handcuffs that had been placed around her wrists were attached to long iron chains that left her enough room to lie down at least. In the beginning she had tried to wriggle out of the handcuffs, but they were much too tight, so she soon gave it up. She froze miserably, dressed only in her shirt. Next to the straw sack stood a bucket to relieve herself, a cup of water and a plate with an edge of dry bread. She hoped that this nightmare would soon come to an end. I'm sure my stepfather would pay any sum to get me back undamaged. Jakomina thought 'intact' - so far none of the men had touched her. Only the one who had put her in the iron had striked briefly over her breasts.

The door to the dungeon opened squeaking. A tall man with a lantern in his hand came in. Jakomina recognized the Viking Einar. He closed the door behind him and looked at the girl, who now pressed herself even more anxiously against the cold stone wall. "Hello my pretty one," he said with a low voice and a clear accent. "What do you want?" came Jakominas quiet voice.

"I want to show you something, my little one." So Einar came closer to her and squatted to shine the lantern in Jakomina's face." "Have you ever had a lover?" Jakomina shook her head. Einar's disfigured face with the long scar turned into a grin. "Then you'll have your first one today. Then you can think of me when your future husband fucks you."

"W-what ?" stammered Jakomina. "No! Leave me alone! My stepfather won't take me in if I'm not a virgin!" "Don't worry, kiddo. He will not dare to cast you out." With this Einar grabbed her ankle and tore the crouching girl to him. Jakomina screamed in horror and struggled with her legs. She tried to hit Einar with her feet, which he acknowledged with a laugh. He held an ankle with an iron grip and opened his pants. Then he took out his erect limb. "Girl, you're gonna love this" and shoved her shirt up.

Jakominas eyes widened at the sight of the steeply raised cock as Einar pushed his knee between her legs and pressed her thighs apart. She screamed and waved as she felt his weight on her and his hot breath on her face. Einar's tongue rushed out and he licked Jakomina over her face. Then he coarsely grabbed her breasts and kneaded them before tearing the shirt completely in half. Now the girl lay naked in front of him. "Ah, my doll, come, I'll get it for you." Einar gasped and licked over her neck, down to her breasts. "Stop it! Stop it! I don't want this!" she cried out loud. The answer was a deep laugh from the Viking. Einar already had his erection in his hand and pushed his lower body against that of the girl. With the tip of his cock he pushed into her vagina and pulled it out again as he felt her hymen. Then his hand lay on Jakominas mouth and he pushed again. Jakominas suffocated cry was heard in the dungeon as the Viking's member pierced her hymen. She feels as if she is being split in two as the cutting pain got worse and worse as the man pushed into her again and again until his penis was completely inside her.

Tears ran down her face as Einar mercilessly hammered hard into her. "Ahh, you're pretty tight. Feels good, kiddo!" he exclaimed and twisted his eyes. His hand kept kneading a breast. Eventually his thrusts became more violent, he moaned loudly, while Jakomina lay there quietly and prayed that it would soon be over. Suddenly Einar stiffened and with two violent thrusts he came inside her. Jakomina felt his seed pouring into her. 'Oh God, if I got pregnant now' she thought and shivered. The man now moved over her and pulled his cock out of her. It was still half erect and now there was blood and her dampness stuck to it. Einar grunted contentedly and wiped his member with his hand. Then he stood up, straightened his trousers, took the lantern and disappeared, without another word, from the dungeon and slammed the door shut.

Jakomina tried to stand up to let the seed of the Viking flow out of her. Then she gathered the remains of her now bloodstained shirt together and cried. She was damned. Deflowered, dishonored... Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What was she supposed to do now? She would have only the monastery as a refuge. Who would take her now? Her sobbing finally turned into a whimper. Her lower body burned like fire. Every movement caused her severe pain. She was overcome by a violent wave of nausea. Strangling her upper body bent forward and she vomited the little she had in her stomach. Again and again came waves of vomit. She strangled and choked until only bile came out, then she collapsed exhausted on her mattress.

After the sweaty sword fight the maids had prepared a bath for Kurgan in the huge wooden tub. The giant stepped in and the maids curtsied and disappeared. He put his sword and scabbard on a stool and took off his heavy boots and then his leather trousers. Naked he climbed into the steaming tub and enjoyed the pleasant warmth of the water. He took a piece of soap, went into hiding and washed his sticky hair with the soap. When he was finished, he tied a towel around his hips and left the bathroom next to his bedroom.


End file.
